The endorsement, which was announced after the state chairmen’s meeting in Gombe State, was the second in the series as the trio were earlier endorsed by the same set of people from the South East geo-political zone.
A lot of dust has been raised since the issue became public knowledge, with almost all stakeholders who have so far commented on the matter, condemning it as untimely and miscalculated.
To such people it was wrong for the NFF chiefs who were physically present at the meeting to embark on electioneering campaign at a time Nigerians were clamouring for early and adequate preparation of the Super Eagles towards posting excellent result at the South Africa 2010 World Cup in June.
Their argument is that for the NFF officials to allow personal interest to override national interest as exhibited in their campaign for re-election to the detriment of making efforts for the Super Eagles to do well at the World Cup, would have negative impact on the team’s showing in South Africa.
Sani Ahmed Toro
The first person to react to the declaration was former Secretary General in the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Alhaji Sani Ahmed Toro, who urged the Federation’s board members to stop playing politics now and concentrate on preparing the Super Eagles for resounding outing at the South Africa 2010 World Cup.
According to Toro, the resolution by football administrators from the North East geo-political zone to endorse Lulu and some board members for a second term at this time was wrong as engaging in politicking now would be to the detriment of the country’s preparation for the World Cup next June. He also condemned the NFF officials for jumping the gun, by starting the electioneering campaign even when the guidelines for the elections were yet to be released by the electoral committee.
“People are so impatient, these are the same people that set up electoral committee and instead of them to wait for the guidelines to be released they are busy going round to campaign. They should be patient and wait for the guidelines before starting the campaign.
“My advice is that they should concentrate on preparing the Super Eagles to reach the semi-final of the World Cup as they promised Nigerians. What Nigerians want is how the Super Eagles will be able to reach the semi-final of the World Cup is South Africa.
“Whatever happened in Gombe or any other part of the country will not work, during the elections proper Nigerians will vote based on their conscience”, Toro stated.
Gara Gombe
It is unfortunate the Nigeria Football Federation officials are embarking on election campaigns now when they are expected to be making arrangements for the Super Eagles and their handlers to prepare well for the World Cup in South Africa.
Gombe however blamed the immediate past Minister of Sports and Chairman National Sports Commission Engineer Sani Ndanusa for dragging Nigeria into the present logjam, saying “he allowed the Federation to drag Nigeria to this mess”.
Gombe observed that there is nothing to do at this stage, as any attempt to delve into the electoral process will earn the country the wrath of world football governing body, FIFA.
He however added that, with Decree 101 still in place, government through the minister of sports has the right to call the Nigeria Football to order and damn the consequence of being penalized by FIFA.
“As it is now, we (Nigeria) cannot do anything regarding the coming elections of the Nigeria Football Federation due to the fear of FIFA; but the minister can still wade in and wait for the ban from FIFA, that is the tragedy”, Gombe stated.
Lumumba Adeh
Former member of the Nigeria Premier League Interim Committee and NFF presidential candidate Lumumba Adeh called on all football stakeholders in the country to disregard the resolution of the state football association chairmen from the North East and their endorsement of Lulu, Uchegbulam and Ogunjobi.
Adeh in a chat with Trustsports stated that football chairmen from the zone have no authority to endorse the three men because they are from their zone.
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