‘Stop the NFF Elections!’: Odegbami Appeals to Tinubu, Calls for Temporary Suspension of NFF Elections, Alleges Process Already ‘Sewn Up’

Former Nigeria captain and Sports Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Odegbami, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerians to stop the forthcoming elections into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation, insisting that the process requires urgent scrutiny before it goes ahead.

Odegbami, who made the appeal in a strongly worded article in some top Nigerian newspapers, said he was speaking from a deep sense of responsibility after more than five decades of involvement in Nigerian sports and football.

He recalled receiving the national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger, MON, as well as being decorated as Sports Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1998, saying the honours came with responsibilities that compel him to speak when he believes the country’s sports are heading in the wrong direction.

According to the former Green Eagles captain, Nigerian football is currently at a crossroads, with the country’s wealth of football talent no longer being matched by the achievements of its football administration.

He argued that Nigeria’s football industry has been held back by what he described as faulty administrative decisions that have accumulated over several decades and have now become entrenched in the system.

Odegbami, who has played for Nigeria, captained the national team and Olympic contingent, served on the board of the Nigerian Football Association and chaired the Governing Council of the National Institute for Sports, said his long experience in football administration gives him sufficient grounds to raise concerns over the direction of the game.

He specifically questioned the legal and administrative foundation of the country’s football governing structure, deliberately referring to the organization as the Nigerian Football Association rather than the Nigeria Football Federation.

He claimed that there are unresolved legal issues surrounding the present structure and alleged that a court judgment requiring amendments has remained unimplemented for almost eight years.

Turning to the forthcoming elections, Odegbami made serious allegations about the credibility of the process, claiming that the outcome has effectively been determined before voting takes place.

‘As for the elections the way things are now, they have been held and sewn up already, the results determined even before a vote has been cast,’ he alleged, adding that some potential contestants had already been excluded from the process and that the eventual winners had been predetermined by people currently in office.

He also questioned the proposed location and manner of conducting the election, alleging that the process would take place away from public scrutiny and could create an environment vulnerable to bribery and other corrupt practices.

Odegbami called for greater involvement by the National Sports Commission, arguing that the supervising government body should be able to guarantee neutrality and transparency.

The former international further rejected what he described as threats attributed to FIFA against government intervention in the country’s football administration. He argued that FIFA’s role in Nigeria’s internal football affairs should be properly examined against the relevant statutes and legal documents rather than being invoked as an obstacle to government oversight.

Odegbami said he would take a number of documents currently being used in the administration of Nigerian football before the Nigerian civil courts in the coming days.

He said the legal action would seek clarification on issues including FIFA’s actual powers and role in Nigeria’s internal football affairs, the status and representation of State Football Associations, the structure of representation within the football governing system and the role of government as the country’s biggest funder of football.

He also questioned the cost and complexity of conducting football elections in Nigeria, describing the process as unnecessarily politicised and expensive.

According to Odegbami, NFF elections have become a four-yearly source of controversy, with successive electoral processes repeatedly challenged over alleged irregularities and manipulation. He warned that the continued disputes are ultimately hurting a country whose citizens remain deeply passionate about football.

He argued that Nigerian football has failed to fully exploit its enormous potential to contribute to the national economy, create opportunities for talented young people and compete successfully at the highest international level.

Odegbami therefore called on Nigerians and members of the country’s football community to pay close attention to the issues he has raised and support a temporary halt to the elections while the fundamental questions surrounding the administration of Nigerian football are examined.

‘The next few weeks will be very interesting,’ he said, adding that he hoped Nigerians would understand why the elections should be temporarily halted to allow the country’s football administration to ‘find its feet again.’

Odegbami said his intervention was not motivated by personal interest but by what he described as a responsibility arising from more than 50 years of service to Nigerian football and sports.

He concluded by insisting that history, official documents, facts and figures must be brought into the open to clarify Nigeria’s football governance structure and provide a foundation for reform and sustainable development.