This is the last time I shall be commenting on the NFF elections until the matter is finally resolved one way or the other. I am taking this decision without any prodding by anyone. I am doing so simply as a result of my determination to seek justice and fair play and in furtherance of my commitment to genuine development of football administration into the future. From the latter-part of my statement above you can deduce that I do not intend to give up on my attempt to correct the wrongs of the electoral process and the statutes of the NFF both of which were ‘adulterated’ to meet some private agenda.

Several months ago, when I was to commence my groundwork on the elections, one of the many things that some of the friends I shared my thoughts with complained about is that I often gave up on my ideas and projects when confronted with testy situations. I humbly accepted their evaluation and proceeded to assure them that this time around, no matter what happens, I would stay the course till the very end. When I was making that promise I did not know to what extent this struggle would take me. I had no doubt, however, that it was going to be bitter and bruising to dismantle what had become a deep-rooted ‘racket’ in Nigerian football. Even though I indicated an interest to contest for the Presidency against the counsel of some very close friends in the corridors of power, and went through the entire process of purchasing forms, seeking nomination and endorsement, and going through screening, at no time did I delude myself that I stood much of a chance of winning the elections without the necessary amendments in the statutes, re-arrangements of the sequence of the elections, religious implementation of the guidelines for the elections in line with the Standard FIFA electoral code and guidelines, re-composition of the electoral committee in line with FIFA directives, and the expansion of the number of constituencies making up the NFF  to include more than just State Football Association Chairmen. In short, I knew I was unlikely to win the elections if I contested the way things were. At the same time I realised that the only way to influence change was for me to participate in the election process and challenge everything that I thought was wrong. Thats exactly what I did. I could not fight from outside the trench. It was a sacrifice I had to make. It was obvious to me that there were so many things wrong with the entire set up to such an extent that it would require an earthquake-like cataclysm for a level playing field to be created that can allow an arrogant, stingy, too-know, snobbish, non-conformist ‘outsider’ (unbelievably, that is how I am told I am perceived by a segment of the football fraternity) like me to win. I also knew that taking on all the several other contentious issues would have detracted from the main one, and the essential message would have been buried and lost in the labyrinth of lesser issues. So, I chose to take on only the most important issue of challenging the mutilated statutes of the NFF and hope it will set off an avalanche of other reactions. Thats why I did not campaign or seek the support of any single delegate to the elections. I believed and still believe that they were not the legitimate delegates to the elections.

Interestingly, there were other very serious anomalies that we left unchallenged. If you go through the guidelines for the setting up of an electoral committee you will find at least four defects in the electoral committee that Sani Lulu put in place that conducted the controversial elections. The Chairman may not have qualified to be in the committee by virtue of his business relationship with the President of the NFF. There is definitely a conflict of interest. One of the committee members is a known indicted government official. Two other members are serving State government officials which contradicts FIFA clear guideline that ‘no government official of any kind must be a member of the electoral committee’. There is one member that was also a member of the 2006 electoral committee which is contrary to the FIFA electoral code that stipulates clearly that no one can serve twice in the electoral committee. There is also a member of the committee that is also a member of the delegates at the election. But all these pale into insignificance compared to the day-light flouting of the FIFA rule that says that  ‘members of the NFF shall organise themselves without any external entity including the NFF’. It is so elementary and so clear that the NFF Executive Committee or even its General Assembly should never have given any specific directives to any one of its members to conduct its elections at any particular time or period and worse still to have inserted such a directive in its own statutes!  That directive would inevitably affect the internal affairs of the member. That is INTERFERENCE pure and simple, with a capital ‘I’. It is such an ‘innocuous’ move that has now brought about the complications that is rocking Nigerian football administration to its foundation at the moment!

Against all the afore-mentioned anomalies I stood no chance. My protestations and petitions made sense to all but those that were going to be beneficiaries of the warped arrangement and they had the support of two formidable persons with strong influence on how the pendulum of support would swing if held under those conditions – Sani Lulu and Amos Adamu. One thing Nigerians must know is that through all of the struggle there was no animosity of any kind between the contending ‘forces’. Amos Adamu who has never supported my candidature for the NFA Chairmanship for his own ‘good’ reasons, is my friend. We see and chat often and even met before the elections to discus my grouses. He did not share my points of view, which is okay by the way. We may disagree on several things but we have respect for each other. Sani Lulu is also my  friend, although we do not see each other often and have not met since the World Cup in South Africa we enjoy a good and cordial relationship. The same thing applies to all other members of the Lulu board, including the new man Aminu Maigari who is a complete gentleman and a very amiable personality. We are all brothers in the football fraternity all working through different paths towards the goal of developing football in the country.

In a nut-shell my primary objective was to correct the wrongs in the system through contesting the elections and challenging the process. Winning was not my primary goal. Winning could have come only as a bonus.  Having said all of that though, as a sportsman to the core, no one should be left in doubt: I shall never give up a match until I hear the sound of the final whistle! I know how critical the last few seconds and minutes of a match are, as I have experienced it through most of my life in football. I also know better than most that to win in a race is not necessarily to come first. Remember Nigeria’s 4 X 400 female relay quartet at the Barcelona Olympics. They became the toast of the world for many years after the games even though they only came third. So, for the good of the game I shall continue the struggle to get us, as a people, to do the right things always – to contest fairly and with integrity, to win deservedly with pride and honour, and to lose with grace and dignity! When that is done my part in the drama of the 2010 NFF elections would have been well played. Thats why I am following with keen interest the proceedings in the Nigerian courts.

To the courts and International Arbitration!

I did not participate in the elections in obedience to the order of a Federal High Court in Lagos asking all parties to the suit filed by the National Association of Nigerian Footballers, NANF, to stay action on the election until the matter before it is decided. I saw a copy of the court order.  As an Ambassador of Sports of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a Member of the Order of the Niger, MON, as a lawful citizen of this country, I would not see the documented order of a Nigerian court and disobey it! Not taking part in the elections has very serious implications for me. What was I expected to do afterwards? Pack my bags, go back to my home, moan, mourn and bear my heavy physical, emotional and financial losses?  I had committed hard-earned resources to the elections in the past 8 months! Who will bear responsibility for my loss if I was only duly obeying a lawful court order? So, I cannot rest or stop now. Those that took part in the elections have murdered sleep, and, so, shall themselves sleep no more!

Thats why I am monitoring the goings-on in several courts in Nigeria. Thats why I am preparing a comprehensive petition against FIFA before the International Court of Arbitration, in Switzerland, seeking several prayers amongst which are an Admission by FIFA that it erred in its interpretations of the proposed Statutes of the NFF sent to it in August 2009; an admission by FIFA that it did not approve the finished statutes of the NFF but merely recommended changes to the draft sent to it; an admission by FIFA that, without fully understanding the dynamics of the workings of Nigerian football, it was mis-led by some persons to interfere in the internal affairs of one of members of the NFF contrary to its own rules; an apology by FIFA to all Nigerians and to the government of Nigeria for allowing itself to be drawn to interfere and intimidate the entire country into conducting an election that was the subject of a case in court; and to seek compensation for the financial losses suffered by all those deprived, through FIFA’s inadvertent action, from contesting the elections. And more!

It is necessary for FIFA to be reminded that every one of its national association members must operate within the laws of the country they are situated in, and that FIFA’s statutes on issues outside of the Laws of the Game cannot be superior to the laws of the country within which their members operate. FIFA itself operates under the laws of Switzerland where it’s headquarters are located.

So, the next few weeks and months and, possibly, years will be very interesting. I am excited about the prospects of what the result of this struggle will bring to Nigerian football. I am surely not fighting for self but for all genuine football stakeholders all over the country who are waiting for their turn and opportunity to participate in the process of developing their beloved national sport and of democratically selecting those what will represent them in the administration of the game. The process must be transparent and free of any manipulation by any group or interests. That way elections will be won and lost on the basis of merit, and football would be the better for it! On that note I rest my public comments on the matter of the NFF elections, for now!