The Congress of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at its Annual General Assembly yesterday approved September 30 as the date for the staging of the election for the new executive committee of the soccer body. The election will now take place in Benin City, Edo State.
The decision was taken after the President of NFF Amaju Pinnick had quenched the plot to impeach him by the highest-decision body of the federation.
There were fears that Pinnick could be asked to step down by the majority the Congress for gross misconduct; sources said that the decision was gaining traction in the hours leading to the commencement of the AGA but the former Chairman of Delta State Sports Commission had deployed his political sagacity to diffuse tension.
The request by the Pinnick-led board to have the election shifted by one month was also shot down by Congress but the General Assembly agreed that the election should be held on September 30 instead of 10 days earlier when the tenure of the current board is expected to terminate.
“The impeachment threat was true,” a source said at the Best Western Hotel, Lagos venue of the AGA. “Pinnick did a lot last night to pacify the Congress to shelve the plan and he was told pointedly that he should allow the process to flow without interference which also foreclosed the possibility of him taking part in the election.”
However, Pinnick fired a subtle attack on members of the Congress who criticised his tenure saying hatred against him would de-market Nigerian football.
He said his ambition is to leave the Congress in one unit the same way it was handed over to him by erstwhile President Aminu Maigari.
He said: “As I stand before you today, I want to thank the Congress for what they have done for Nigeria football in the last eight years. I want to leave Congress as one unit the way it was handed to me in 2014.
“We know we did our best within our means in the last eight years; Nigerians love football and they don’t like to lose but this is a sport where a winner must emerge and you can’t win all the time. For those of us here who see that as a reason to hate me, this thing is not against Pinnick, we are de-marketing our football. I want to say it here that I am not going to contest for the NFF President again.”
Meanwhile, the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) has described the decision of Congress as an exercise in futility following the shutting out of the union from the AGA.