NFF Crisis: Congress Takes Reform Proposal To FIFA, CAF

The battle over the future of Nigerian football is set to move to the international stage, with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Congress preparing to present its reform proposal to FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as its formal position on how the federation’s governance crisis should be resolved.

The proposal was formally submitted to the National Sports Commission (NSC) at a meeting on Monday, where the Congress put forward its comprehensive framework for restructuring the NFF and restoring constitutional governance.

Having placed the document before the NSC, members of Congress are now preparing to present the same proposal to FIFA and CAF during the international bodies’ assessment of the crisis.

The development came the day FIFA and CAF formally suspended the ongoing NFF electoral process and announced plans for a joint assessment mission to Abuja.

In their September 7 letter, signed by FIFA Chief Member Associations Officer Elkhan Mammadov, FIFA and CAF said they were reviewing the resignations of NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, members of the Executive Committee and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, as well as communications received from various Nigerian football stakeholders.

Crucially, however, FIFA and CAF stressed that they had reached no conclusion on the competing positions in the dispute and that the suspension should not be interpreted as either an endorsement or rejection of any stakeholder’s position.

That position has created a potentially decisive opening for the NFF Congress. Congress now intends to place its own constitutional roadmap directly before the FIFA/CAF assessment mission and make the case that Nigerian football should first be allowed to use its own statutory machinery to resolve the crisis before an exceptional external intervention, such as a Normalisation Committee, is considered.

At the centre of the Congress argument are Articles 34 and 38 of the NFF Statutes.

The Congress position is that the resignation of the NFF leadership did not dissolve the federation, eliminate Congress or extinguish its constitutional authority. Instead, it argues that the statutes provide mechanisms for dealing with widespread vacancies, including the convening of an Extraordinary Congress.

The reform proposal therefore envisages a Congress-led process in which the competent Congress is activated, the NFF Statutes and Electoral Code are amended where necessary, electoral constituencies and stakeholder structures are regularised and credible elections are subsequently conducted.

For Congress, the message to FIFA and CAF is straightforward: Nigeria’s football constitution should be tested before it is replaced by an externally imposed mechanism.

FIFA and CAF would remain central to the process under the Congress proposal through technical assistance, review, recognition and oversight, but without replacing the constitutional role of the NFF Congress.

The timing could hardly be more significant. FIFA and CAF have said their Abuja assessment will involve representatives of the NFF administration, members of Congress, the federation’s electoral bodies and the Federal Government, including the National Sports Commission.

The reform proposal submitted to the NSC on Monday is therefore expected to become one of the major documents placed before the international assessors as they examine the competing positions and determine the next steps.

The Congress is effectively preparing to tell FIFA and CAF: this is our position, this is our constitutional roadmap and this is how we believe Nigerian football can return to elected governance.

The international bodies have deliberately kept their options open. Their September 7 communication states that the assessment will consider the facts, the applicable NFF regulatory framework and the positions of the different stakeholders before recommendations or proposals are submitted to their respective competent decision-making bodies.

That means the suspension of the electoral process has not resolved the constitutional argument. Instead, it has opened a new battle over what comes next.

For Congress, the fundamental question is whether the NFF’s existing constitutional mechanism can resolve the crisis without a Normalisation Committee. The Congress proposal does not deny FIFA’s authority to intervene in exceptional circumstances. Rather, it argues that a Normalisation Committee should only become necessary if FIFA determines that the Congress-led statutory process cannot lawfully or practically function.

That distinction could prove crucial when FIFA and CAF arrive in Abuja. Congress is effectively asking the international bodies to answer a simple but potentially explosive legal question:

What provision of the NFF Statutes prevents Congress from convening under Articles 34 and 38 to address the vacancies, and what evidence establishes that the statutory mechanism has failed or cannot operate?

Until those questions are answered, Congress believes its constitutional role cannot simply be bypassed. The proposal also provides a timetable designed to prevent the present crisis from becoming an open-ended governance vacuum. It envisages elections and handover within six months, while allowing broader institutional reforms to continue over an 18-to-24-month period.

The first stage would involve stabilising the federation and convening the competent Congress, followed by a legal and statutory audit, constitutional reform, electoral restructuring, preparation for elections and the eventual emergence of a new elected leadership.

As part of that transitional arrangement, Congress has proposed a seven-member Caretaker Committee to oversee the reform process for between three and six months. The proposed committee comprises Christopher Green, Abubakar Ladan, L.A. Haruna, Waheed Akanni, Rukayat Segilola Alaya, Coach Oko Victor Ndubuisi and Professor Tor Iorapuu.

The committee, under the Congress proposal, would provide an interim structure through which the federation could be stabilised while the wider reform programme, statutory review and preparations for fresh elections are undertaken.

Congress has presented the caretaker arrangement as part of its proposed constitutional route out of the crisis rather than as a replacement for elected governance. Its role would be temporary, with the broader objective of creating the conditions for credible elections and a return to a properly constituted NFF administration.

That proposal, however, is likely to face close scrutiny from FIFA and CAF, particularly over the precise statutory provision under which the committee would derive its authority and powers and whether its proposed mandate can fit within the NFF’s existing regulatory framework.

The Congress proposal also seeks to establish a clear boundary between government involvement and football autonomy. It recognises a legitimate role for government and the NSC in public policy, funding, infrastructure, accountability and other matters of public interest, while maintaining that internal football governance, including Congress membership, statutory amendments and elections, must remain within the recognised NFF, FIFA and CAF framework.

That position will also be tested during the Abuja mission, given FIFA and CAF’s decision to consult the Federal Government and NSC alongside football stakeholders. The submission to the NSC on Monday has therefore given Congress a formal document with which to enter that debate.

Rather than approaching FIFA and CAF with only objections to external intervention, Congress will be able to place before them a detailed alternative: activate Congress, reform the statutes, establish the proposed temporary caretaker structure, regularise the electoral structure, conduct credible elections and allow FIFA and CAF to provide technical oversight.

The September 7 FIFA/CAF letter has consequently changed the character of the crisis. The question is no longer whether the suspended September 27 Elective Congress will hold. The bigger battle is now over who determines the route back to constitutional government in Nigerian football.

Congress has made its position clear to the NSC. It is now preparing to make the same case to FIFA and CAF.

And when the international assessors arrive in Abuja, the crucial question will be whether they accept that Nigeria’s football constitution can still rescue Nigerian football, or conclude that the crisis has gone too far and that only a Normalisation Committee can restore order.