Ambassador Chris Giwa yesterday assumed duty at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with some members of his board, and regretted losing one of the members of the Executive Committee of the NFF, the late Deji Tinubu.
Giwa said the vacuum created on the Executive Committee of the NFF board by the sudden departure of Tinubu would be filled in due course. The late Tinubu had been the South West representative on the NFF board.
According to Giwa, the board would have a meeting before the end of this week where some key decisions would be taken.
While noting that the election held in Warri, Delta State on August 28, 2014 by aggrieved members brought about the controversy that divided the stakeholders, Giwa said in his first appearance at the NFF secretariat, that the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, invited the two factions for the resolution of their differences without luck.
Responding to question on the duration of his tenure, Giwa said, that would be the decision of the NFF congress.
“I don’t know how long the Executive Committee of our NFF Board would be in office. That would be the decision of the congress,” Chris Giwa said.
Remarkably, a battery of policemen and other security operatives in mufti that denied Giwa access to the NFF secretariat soon after the Supreme Court ruling on April 27, 2018, ironically accompanied him and few members of his board on inspection visit to the Glass House.
While in a closed door meeting with few members of staff of the NFF, Giwa was said to have assured them of his cooperation to ensure smooth operation to take football to the next level.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports development has directed the NFF, a parastatal under it, to comply with the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on April 27, 2018, which restored the orders of the Federal High Court, setting aside the purported election into the Executive Committee of the NFF held on September 30, 2014.
Dalung said in a statement that the directive followed a written notification signed for the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice requesting the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports to ensure compliance.
The notification states thus: “I have been directed to notify you of the Orders dated June 5, 2018 made by Honorable Justice M. H. Kurya sitting at the Federal High Court Jos in respect of the above mentioned suit between Yahaya Adama Vs Alhaji Aminu Maigari which states that the election of the NFF held on August 26, 2014 under the leadership of Amb Chris Giwa be given recognition pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed in this case.
