It is set to go down to the wire when the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) hold its elective congress as four prominent football administrators seek to replace incumbent, Amaju Pinnick as president, the sportsbay.com reports.
According to several sources, the League Management Committee (LMC) chairman and second vice president of the NFF, Malam Shehu Dikko tops the list of those who have indicated an interest in replacing Amaju.
Others are Lagos State FA chairman and first vice president of the federation, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, Chairman of Chairmen in the current dispensation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) FA chairman, Adam Mouktar Mohammed.
According to sources, Dikko, who holds a Master of Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University, is the preferred choice of the incumbent while Alhaji Gusau, who’s seen as one of the strong backers of Amaju, has so far refused all entreaties to forgo his interest for the LMC chairman.
Meanwhile, former Ajax and Super Eagles winger Tijani Babangida, the president of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), has called for restructuring of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee ahead of the September board election.
Babangida said the restructuring should make the membership of the NFF board more inclusive.
In the statement tagged; ”NFF For Sustainable Growth and Development of Nigeria”, Babangida stated that equal representation in the NFF board would promote justice, peace, equity, and fair play.
“The current structure of the NFF board is deficient on many fronts. The current structure dominated by the chairmen of the state football associations to the detriment of other important stakeholders does not portray the game of football as the most democratic game in the world.
“The board dominated by the state football association chairmen has its roots in the faulty nature of the composition and distribution of votes.
“This votes amongst the five distinct members of the NFF, according to the provisions of article 10:1 of NFF Statutes must be addressed if we must move forward and make progress”, he said.
It provides that the FAs have only 37 votes out of the 44 votes in the congress.
“There is no doubt that the current structure of the congress and the board has continuously promoted and encouraged election malpractices such as votes buying.
“This has negative effects on the quality of members of the board which robs on quality decisions making and good governance,” Babangida noted.
