NFF Drama: Maigari is president – no, yes!

The soap opera that’s now Nigeria football continued as state FA chairmen loyal to the ousted president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) gathered in Abuja Thursday to overrule the impeachment of Aminu Maigari.

Maigari, who was impeached by eight of the 13-member NFF executive committee during its meeting on Thursday last week in Abuja, vowed to fight back and that is exactly what he did as a majority of the NFF general assembly rejected his impeachment as president of the federation.

Twenty-six state FA chairmen, who make up more than 50% of the 44-member congress in fulfillment of the requirements of Article 24 of NFF statutes, at a pre-general assembly resolved in a seven-page document made available to reporters, that Maigari remains president of the NFF and he should immediately return to office.

“That the undersigned having constituted more than 50%+1 of the members of the general assembly (as required by the NFF statutes for taking valid decisions at the congress) and in view the mathematical impossibility of the remaining members to ratify the alleged dismissal pursuant to the NFF statutes, the president should immediately return to his desk and continue as president of the NFF until after the elective congress of Tuesday, August 26, 2014,” it read in part.

The FA chiefs said Maigari’s purported dismissal did not follow laid-down procedures.

But in a swift reaction through its acting president, Mike Umeh, the NFF dismissed the group who claimed to have convened an emergency congress of the federation in Abuja.

“The NFF executive committee rose from its meeting of Wednesday, July 30, to say that the emergency congress had been postponed, and duly apologised to members of the Congress, while stating that the Congress would hold at a later date,” Umeh said.

“There was no Congress at all, and we urge Nigerians to ignore the so-called decisions contained in the document. A properly-constituted NFF Congress would be convoked at a date to be made known to the public soon.

“Whoever is instigating these persons does not love Nigeria and should be advised to stop.”