The planned NFF Extra-ordinary Congress coming up next month, February in Yenogoa may run into troubled waters.
There are indications that the congress is being threatened even before the date set for it arrives.
Chairman, Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reform Concepts, Harrison Jalla has threatened to drag the Federation to court over the matter.
Jalla argued that there was an existing litigation on the matter, which had not been dispensed with and wondered why anybody would be reopening the issue in court.
He however pointed out that any extraordinary congress must be convened by the five federating units that make up the NFF, not just the Football Association chairmen.
The Advocacy group chairman argued that the illegality of excluding the other four federating units must be addressed before there can be any meaningful progress in Nigerian football.
Jalla pointed out the five federating units of the NFF to include: the Coaches Association, the Leagues, the Referees Association, the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), and the State Football Association Chairmen.
Below is a statement from Jalla to VDCInsights on the matter.
Our attention has been drawn to a purported upcoming Congress in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, scheduled for 14th February 2026. In light of the above, we state and reiterate as follows:
1. The NFF Congress as presently constituted is a one-member Congress—a Congress of State Football Association Chairmen, with 37 voting rights out of 44. Five federating units and blocs constitute the NFF and its Congress: the Coaches Association, the Leagues, the Referees Association, the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), and the State Football Association Chairmen. All are defined by the NFF Statutes as having equal membership status.
2. The current undemocratic structure and its electoral process have been challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction since 2021, in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1376/2021. The major relief sought is equal representation on the NFF Executive Board, Standing Committees, and Ad-hoc Committees for all five federating units and blocs.
3. Therefore, any purported Congress—by whatever name or guise, whether Extraordinary Congress or Elective Congress—is sub judice. Those who have ears, let them hear. The Ibrahim Gusau Congress has no locus to convene any Congress in desperation until the ongoing litigation on the NFF electoral process is resolved.
4. More so, there is a Presidential Directive issued on 17th June 2022, which the NFF continues to flout, acting as though it is bigger than the country.
5. Those who wish to dare the law may proceed to Bayelsa State on 14th February for any purported Congress. Those who cannot recollect history should ask questions. We did it in September 2010 in Lagos, and we will do it again if need be. The entire NFF Congress was charged individually and docked for contempt of court. They escaped jail by whiskers through the last-minute intervention of the Federal Government. There are two subsisting court orders on that illegal Congress.
6. The current undemocratic Congress cannot make decisions for other federating units and blocs constituting the NFF. Only a Congress of equal representatives, set up in line with the NFF Statutes and the Presidential Directive, can amend the NFF Statutes. Nigeria is a constitutional democracy.
Jalla said those who have fed on the NFF for decades should look for something meaningful to do. Enough is enough.
