The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Maigari

  • Maigari returns to office

    Maigari returns to office

    Aminu Maigari has finally resumed work at the secretariat of the Nigeria Football Federation, as President of the NFF, SL10.ng can report.

    Maigari returns after failing to turn up on Monday as instructed by FIFA in its last letter to the NFF, even though General Secretary Musa Amadu did show up on Monday.

    FIFA had instructed that Chris Giwa should ‘stop parading himself as President of the Nigeria football federation’, and for the board of the NFF to be reconstituted the way it was on the 25th of August which means Maigari returns as President, even though his tenure has expired and his faction of the congress duly dissolved his board.

    And as a result, Chris Giwa, who was controversially elected on the same August 26th, has challenged FIFA’s order at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

    Maigari arrived at the Glass House shortly after noon and proceeded to the President’s office.

    The management staff led by General Secretary, Musa Amadu, Mohammed Sanusi and Idris Adama had already resumed work and such has accordingly been communicated to FIFA by Amadu.

     

  • Maigari calls for calm, assures on Sept Elections

    Maigari calls for calm, assures on Sept Elections

    President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Aminu Maigari has appealed for calm and assured Nigerians that normalcy will soon return to the nation’s football administration and stave off the hanging threat of suspension from the Federation of International Football Associations (NFF).

    He also assured the football community and the general public that elections into the Executive Committee of the NFF will hold before September 25 after an Extra Ordinary Congress scheduled for September 18.

    The NFF President also dismissed insinuations of crisis in the nation’s football administration, pointing out that only five persons have been trying to cause confusion within the ranks.

    “It is important that we remain calm and don’t take action or make comments that will aggravate the situation. We are very positive that those who may have inadvertently caused us to incur the threat of suspension from FIFA will retrace their steps and save Nigeria the trauma experienced these past months”, noted the NFF President who addressed over 41 Delegates and Board members earlier in the day.

    FIFA had in a letter of September 4 and signed by the Secretary General, Jerome Valcke directed Chris Giwa and others purporting to have been elected to theNFF Board to vacate the offices by 7am Nigerian time on Monday, September 8 or the country will be automatically suspended from all organized football activities.

    On the elections which FIFA directed should be held, Maigari said “we are going to hold the election before September 25 and the Extra-Ordinary Congress will hold to ratify the roadmap as requested by FIFA”.

    Giwa, the proprietor of Premier League side, Giwa FC and five others have been occupying offices of the NFF Board, insisting that they were elected at a supposed Congress held on August 26.

    According to the NFF boss, ” it is gratifying to note that we have consistently worked in consonance with the NFF, CAF and FIFA Statutes and we will not deviate from that path but urge those who have taken wrong steps to retrace and they will be accommodated”.

    Maigari said he is reaching out to constituted authorities to rein in the recalcitrant few.

  • You shouldn’t have stayed away from Congress, Minister faults Maigari led NFF faction

    You shouldn’t have stayed away from Congress, Minister faults Maigari led NFF faction

    The Sports Minister,  Tammy Danagogo has  faulted the action of the Aminu Maigari led faction that stayed away from participating in the August 26th Congress that later turned to election that ushered in Christopher Giwa led new Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    He argued that the feuding faction could have used their numerical strength to sway decision in their favour instead of choosing to stay away from the Congress in the first place.

    “Our greatest challenge in this whole brouhaha is that most people involved are not sincere, they are not gentlemanly enough, and they are not honourable enough. Most people are just looking at winning at all cost and that has been my greatest challenge as regards this issue.

    “We had agreed that five persons are going to contest the (NFF Presidential) election. So let the five persons contest and whoever wins, win. Agreements were reached but before the election, in fact, most of you who are journalists even know all these things before me.

    “But by the eve of the election resolutions were being passed with money and (some people) have also signed extension of tenure. That was a very, very provocative and wrong step that was being taken. That has metamorphosed into what we are seeing now. So we had to step in to stop that cause of trying to impose somebody or extending tenures. Then after stopping it people now reacted in different ways.

    “During my address I had to recap what we agreed before we came to the Congress. The unfortunate mistake is that this other group that went to meet somewhere should have been at that place (Chida Hotel Congress venue). If you notice when I was coming to the Congress place I was talking on phone, I was talking to the other group then and I was telling them that the only way for evil not to prevail is for good men to stand up to do something.

    “You will not just walk out (of the Congress) you don’t need to go and stay on the road protesting but come into the hall and address the issue the way it happened and so that all you will be able to say let us follow what we agreed on. We were expecting them to come but they didn’t come (to the venue of the Congress) until I left there. I also heard that they didn’t come until Mike (Umeh) declared the event open and I heard that they now moved a motion that the agenda was to go back to the original plan of holding election

    “Then they held the election and Umeh lost and so on and so forth. I want to imagine that after my address if the other 30 people that I heard met somewhere (in Abuja) had joined the other delegates present at the Congress venue maybe the plan to conduct the election could have failed. The way to correct a system is not to quarrel; it is not to go out and castigate, but to sit down and discuss to resolve the issue,” the Minister stated.

  • Maigari finally released

    Maigari finally released

    Detained NFF president Aminu Maigari has finally regained his freedom along with fellow executive committee member Chris Green, an aide has informed AfricanFootball.com.

    “Maigari has been released by the security operatives. He was released in the morning from the special anti-robbery squad after he was handed to them by the Directorate of State Security Service,” said an aide of the NFF boss.

    “No charges were pressed against him, neither was he or Green questioned on anything. It was clearly to prevent them from attending the general assembly of Tuesday, which FIFA insisted be presided by Maigari.”

    Maigari, it was further learnt, was detained on orders of controversial former Rivers State Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu, who is now an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

    Incidentally, Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo, who also was a commissioner in Rivers State, personally came to the SSS office yesterday to pick general secretary Musa Amadu for what later was termed “an elective congress”, which produced Chris Giwa as the new NFF president.

    Giwa moved into the NFF office yesterday morning and thereafter addressed a dozen staff members, assuring them of improved welfare in his tenure as NFF president.

    World football governing body FIFA are expected to soon rule on the unfolding drama in Nigeria.

     

  • SSS quizzes Maigari, two others

    SSS quizzes Maigari, two others

    … FA chairmen rally for embattled NFF chief

    The State Security Service on Tuesday quizzed the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari and two other principal officials of the federation.

    The other affected officials are – the NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu, and the Chairman of the federation’s technical committee, Chris Green.

    Maigari is expected to preside over the NFF general assembly slated for Tuesday, africanFootball.com reports.

    Meanwhile, no less than 35 states Football Association chairmen defied threats by security operatives and marched to the SSS office in solidarity with Maigari.

    “The FA chairmen refused to be cowed despite threat by heavily armed policemen that they will shoot them down if they leave the premises of the Chida hotel, Abuja,” an eyewitness told africanFootball.com.

    “They left for the SSS office and had made it clear that Maigari will preside over Tuesday’s congress despite this open intimidation.”

    World football governing body, FIFA, has already stated Maigari will lead the NFF congress.

    This latest development comes few hours after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim had resolved that a non-elective congress takes place in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The congress is expected to design a road map for elections into the NFF executive committee.

     

  • Maigari returns, demands free and fair NFF poll

    Maigari returns, demands free and fair NFF poll

    The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari, has said on his return to office that he wants a smooth conduct of elections into the federation’s executive committee.

    Maigari resumed office on Monday after a purported impeachment was thrown out by FIFA, africanFootball.com reports.

    “I personally will want any individual who is eligible to contest (the elections),” Maigari declared.

    The electoral process has been seriously questioned after some officials disappeared with nomination forms in a desperate bid to stop interested persons from vying for the elections.

    Sports minister Tammy Danagogo has also expressed serious concerns about the process.

    Elections are due on August 26 in Warri.

    Meanwhile, Maigari has called on all stakeholders to unite for the good of Nigerian football.

    “There is no victor and no vanquished. We must all come together in the interest of the Nigeria game. We are all adults and we must have differences, but I am happy that those differences are now in the past and we are now of the same accord,” Maigari said as he settled into his chair on Monday.

    He met Mike Umeh, Shehu Adamu and Ayodeji Tinubu, some of his board members in the office, and after hours of deliberation, chairman of the NFF media and publicity committee, Emeka Inyama, disclosed that the board had come together once more and that the interest of Nigerian football had prevailed.

    “We are one big family, as we have always been. There were disagreements and misunderstanding for a number of weeks, but FIFA has cleared the air and the government has weighed in on the side of FIFA,” Inyama said.

    “In the interest of the Nigeria game, we have all resolved to bury our differences and rather work towards evolving a roadmap for the coming elections.

    There will be a meeting of the executive committee on Tuesday.

     

  • Aftermath of FIFA’s letter: Minister tells Maigari to resume office Monday

    Aftermath of FIFA’s letter: Minister tells Maigari to resume office Monday

    Barely 24 hours after world football governing body, FIFA ordered that the impeached President of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF), Aminu Maigari should be reinstated, the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission(NSC), Tammy Danagogo has hearkened to FIFA’s order and asked the NFF boss to resume work at his Wuse Zone 7 Secretariat office of the Federation on Monday.

    The Minister disclosed the mission of Maigari at the Abuja National Stadium office and added that the NFF boss’s visit was in continuation of his resolve to ensure that the crisis bedeviling Nigerian sports is over but also to ensure that all the stakeholders are brought together to have  free,fair and peaceful NFF elections.

    “He has come to pay a courtesy call on me.What all well-meaning stakeholders have been trying to do all this while is to ensure that all the problems we are talking about are resolved. We have got his commitment and his board members. You must be aware that I met with the other group a couple of days ago and they have resolved that they are going to work together peacefully and they are going to make sure that the electoral process goes on with more people giving the opportunity to have forms to contest to ensure that the best materials will emerge as the next leaders of our football federation without any form of bias or restrictions. That is what he has come to brief me and he has assured me that they are going to work together peacefully.”

    The Minister also approved of Maigari to run for the post of NFF President if he so wishes but was silent on whether the Bauchi indigene actually sent in his resignation letter as it was being reported.

    “As a man, he has the right to run or not to. It is his decision to make, he also has the right to resign or not to, it is not the minister that would decide for him. Whatever he would decide, he will announce it at the appropriate time.

    “Let us not be in a hurry to forsee what will happen tomorrow. Before FIFA wrote, there was stakeholders’ advice to both the President and the first vice president who was said to be acting to go and work together for the remaining few days before the next election.

    “He will resume on Monday and we expect that when he resumes, he will lead other members who are not present here back to my office,” he noted.

    Maigari, who was accompanied by two of his board members, Ahmed Yussuf Fresh and Ahmed Kawu, told sports reporters that he came to pay a courtesy visit to the Minister as routine.

    “Our visit today is a tradition which we have in the football family. We deemed it necessary to come and pay a courtesy visit to the minister and congratulate him for the brilliant performance of our Team Nigeria at the just concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as well as the performance of our girls in far away Canada. We came to appreciate and declare our loyalty. Our visit today is based on my capacity as the president of the NFF,” Maigari stated.

  • FIFA return Maigari as NFF boss

    FIFA return Maigari as NFF boss

    World football governing body FIFA have ordered Aminu Maigari back to office as president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    The NFF executive committee had last month purportedly impeached Maigari.

    But in a letter dated August 14 to NFF general secretary Musa Amadu and signed by Markus Kattner, FIFA deputy secretary general, FIFA clearly stated: “The executive committee of the NFF shall also be reunified as it was before the 2014 World Cup.”

  • FIFA sets to rule on Maigari’s impeachment

    FIFA sets to rule on Maigari’s impeachment

    World football governing body FIFA will give its verdict this week on the impeachment of Nigeria Football Federation president, Aminu Maigari.

    AfricanFootball.com gathered that FIFA members will base their decision on the reply NFF forwarded  to the body on Maigari’s impeachment.

    “FIFA will decide on the purported sack of Maigari before the end of this week,” a source informed AfricanFootball.com

    FIFA had last week demanded a full explanation on Maigari’s impeachment by the NFF executive committee.

    Maigari was reportedly sacked by his executive committee members on July 24.

    FIFA in a letter to NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu and signed by Deputy Secretary General, Markus Kattner, demanded a more detailed explanation of events leading to Maigari’s sack.

    They asked for the agenda of the executive committee meeting that sacked Maigari, the conditions for the amendment of the agenda and whether the president was given the chance to defend himself formally.

     

  • FIFA query Maigari’s impeachment

    FIFA query Maigari’s impeachment

    World football  governing body FIFA have demanded for a full explanation regarding the purported dismissal of Aminu Maigari as president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    Maigari was allegedly sacked by his executive committee on July 24.

    But in a letter dated August 4, 2014, to NFF general secretary Musa Amadu and signed by deputy secretary general Markus Kattner, FIFA demanded a more detailed explanation leading to Maigari’s sack.

    They asked for the agenda of the executive committee meeting that sacked Maigari, the conditions for the amendment of the agenda and whether the president was given the chance to defend himself.

    FIFA also stated that the dismissal of any executive committee member was the prerogative of the NFF general assembly and not the executive committee.

    The world football ruling body also expressed surprise that despite the lifting of the suspension of the country, the situation in Nigeria has become “so inextricable”.

    Elections to the executive committee are due to be conducted on August 26.

    And on the heels of the letter from FIFA, the NFF executive committee on Thursday suspended two other members, Chris Green and Yusuf Ahmed, for what they described as “anti-board activities”.