Members of the National Assembly have endorsed the report on the September 2014 elections of the Nigeria Football Federation, which was held in Warri, Delta State. The members of the NFF 2014 Electoral Committee, on Wednesday submitted to the NFF Secretariat their report upholding the NFF 2014 Elective Congress held in Warri on Tuesday, 30th September.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Adamu Gumba, said his committee would abide by the report of the majority of the members of the NFF 2014 Electoral Appeals Committee. His statement followed a minority report released on Thursday by the Chairman of the committee Okey Ajunwa nullifying the elections. His report differed from the one submitted by the other four members of the Committee, which threw away the appeals and upheld the elections
All four other members of the Committee on Wednesday conveyed to the NFF Secretariat their decision throwing out the appeals and upholding in its entirety, the NFF 2014 Elective Congress of Tuesday, as reflected in a signed document made available to The PUNCH.
Gumba’s statement released by the NFF on Thursday read, “In any judicial body, the opinion of every member counts. The chairman merely reads the decision, which may be against his own considered view and position. A ruling is either unanimous or split, and even when the chairman’s position is in the minority; he has no choice but to read the majority decision.”
Chairman of the House of Reps’ Committee on Sports, Godfrey Gaiya, also reacted on the reports on Thursday, saying that he had never seen anywhere in the world where one member’s decision would prevail over four others.
“It is a moot point. The decision of the majority is what the House Committee on Sports will stand by. Any other claim is minority opinion that does not have any leg to stand on.
“Personally, I was at the election in Warri, and it was to me one of the fairest and freest you can see anywhere. It was appropriately conducted, in line with the statutes and regulations governing the elections, and we should simply forget dissenting voices and move on with our football administration.”
The Warri election brought in the current NFF Executive Committee led by Amaju Pinnick. The Nigeria football scene has been one of controversies since July immediately after the Super Eagles were eliminated from the World Cup in Brazil. It took a ban from the world football body, FIFA, and several threats from them before the election could final hold and for those elected to be allowed to take their place at the Abuja offices of the NFF. – Punch.
