Pinnick appeals court order, Giwa says he is ready to take over

The two principal characters in Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) presidency drama, Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa, have reacted to the court ruling, which ordered Pinnick to step down from the position.

Efforts by Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, to broker peace between the warring factions, have so far failed to yield positive results. But at Friday’s verdict announcement, presiding judge Justice Musa Haruna Kurya upheld the previous judgment of Justice Ambrose Allagoa.

Giwa who lost the election to Pinnick in 2014, says he is ready to take over immediately and is reported to have stormed the Glass House.

“We are taking over immediately and will announce a new head of media soon,” he said.

“The court gave them an order not to go on with the Warri Congress, they disobeyed. Are they bigger than the law? How can they rule?”

Meanwhile, embattled president, Pinnick, has confirmed he will appeal the verdict and questioned the involvement of civil courts in football issues.

He said: “This is not good for Nigerian Football, we will file for stay of execution.

“It is disappointing we are still taking football matters to civil courts. We will definitely appeal this case.”

-DP

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Federal High Court sacks Pinnick as NFF president, upholds Giwa’s election

A Federal High Court sitting in Jos on Friday granted the prayers of Yahaya Adama and Senator Obinna Ogba, to relist the case which among other things had sought to nullify the Warri General Assembly and the subsequent elective congress that turned in Amaju Pinnick as President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Justice Musa Haruna Kurya, while delivering his ruling on the matter went ahead to also sustain all the previous orders of the court, effectively making Ambassador Chris Giwa the Head of the federation until the final determination of the suit.

By the orders of the court today, the Minister of Sports is compelled to recognize Mr. Giwa-led Board of the NFF as the recognized board by the law. The order also barred individuals from interfering with the duties and functions of the NFF board under the leadership of Chris Giwa.

The court effectively by Friday ruling has set aside all the proceedings and decisions of the Warri Extra Ordinary meeting of the 20th September, 2014 and the Elective Congress of 30th September, 2014 which elected Amaju Pinnick as President of the NFF.

Speaking shortly after the ruling of the court, Barrister Damon Dashe told DAILY POST, that his clients will certainly appeal the decisions of the court.

On his part, counsel to Yahaya Adama and Senator Obinna Ogba, Barrister Habila Azard said his clients have been vindicated and that, “they can now settle down and resume all their functions because that is all we have been fighting for”.

The Case has now been adjourned till the 30th of May for hearing of the substantive matter.

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We've achieved, I won't resign- NFF boss Amaju Pinnick

Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has come out to defend his term in office after critics called on him to resign following Super Eagles failure to qualify for AFCON 2017.

Amaju highlighted his achievements with other national football teams during his tenure as enough proof his stewardship has been a success and categorically stated he won't resign as he had a four year tenure to complete.

"I was elected by the Congress of the Nigeria Football Federation for a four-year team and I don't see why I should be asked to resign with over two years to serve," said Pinnick. With all due respect, I don't think we have done badly in these past one and half years that we have been in office and I have a four-year mandate which I intend to see through. 

When we came in we had a case running for nine months and this affected us. "In between we won Fifa Under 17 World Cup, we won the Africa Women's Championship and we also qualified for the women' s Under17 and U20 World Cups coming up this year. “I think we have achieved. Again we have very young Super Eagles players that should be the future of the game in the country. 

On the choice of Kaduna as venue of the Afcon match against Egypt, we picked Kaduna because of the passion the people have for the game and the fact that the venue boasts of the best pitch in the country presently and they stood behind the team all through. Aside from that, the Super Eagles have never lost a match there so it was all these that we considered on picking the Ahmadu Bello Stadium to host Egypt,” he said.

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NFF crisis: Pinnick, Giwa in show of shame

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa almost came to blows on Wednesday, at a meeting arranged by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, to settle the crisis that has engulfed the football house for almost two years.

Pinnick and Giwa both contested the NFF presidency in September 2014 in Warri, Delta State. In the aftermath of the elections, both FIFA and CAF congratulated Pinnick as the new man at the helm. Giwa lost his case both in FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), after withdrawing his case from a Jos Court, following FIFA’s threat to ban Nigeria from footballing activities.

Dalung, who was apppointed by President Muhammadu Buhari late last year, however, made moves to resolve the conflict and called for dialogue. However, at the meeting in Abuja, tempers rose and both men called each other unprintable names. It would have descended into a big fight, if not for the intervention of people present.

The meeting eventually ended in a deadlock and Dalung confirmed they would reconvene next Wednesday. He also pleaded with both factions to maintain peace for the interest of football and the country.

Dalung added: “I have the will power and the political power to resolve the issue and I am optimistic that this issue will be resolved. We have decided to hear from them because this is a democracy, if we were in a military dictatorship I may have just decreed and asked one party to step down.”

-DP

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NFF crisis: Pinnick, Giwa in show of shame

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa almost came to blows on Wednesday, at a meeting arranged by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, to settle the crisis that has engulfed the football house for almost two years.

Pinnick and Giwa both contested the NFF presidency in September 2014 in Warri, Delta State. In the aftermath of the elections, both FIFA and CAF congratulated Pinnick as the new man at the helm. Giwa lost his case both in FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), after withdrawing his case from a Jos Court, following FIFA’s threat to ban Nigeria from footballing activities.

Dalung, who was apppointed by President Muhammadu Buhari late last year, however, made moves to resolve the conflict and called for dialogue. However, at the meeting in Abuja, tempers rose and both men called each other unprintable names. It would have descended into a big fight, if not for the intervention of people present.

The meeting eventually ended in a deadlock and Dalung confirmed they would reconvene next Wednesday. He also pleaded with both factions to maintain peace for the interest of football and the country.

Dalung added: “I have the will power and the political power to resolve the issue and I am optimistic that this issue will be resolved. We have decided to hear from them because this is a democracy, if we were in a military dictatorship I may have just decreed and asked one party to step down.”

-DP

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