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Tag: Pinnick

  • NFF election: No plan to disqualify Pinnick, Maigari – Katu

    Sani Katu, Chairman, Electoral Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dismissed concerns that the committee has concluded plans to disqualify top contenders in forthcoming election into the NFF Executive Committee.

    Katu allayed the fears in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

    A source who preferred not to be mentioned had told NAN that plans had been concluded to disqualify former NFF President Aminu Maigari and embattled current NFF boss Amaju Pinnick.

    The plan according to the anonymous source is to disqualify both contestants during the screening exercise and leave only one candidate Taiwo Ogunjobi knowing that he might not have the support of the congress for the NFF top job.

    “After the screening and disqualification of candidates, the electoral committee will open the nomination form for five days to pave way for more people to pick form including Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC).

    “Ogunjobi and Dikko may be the only ones in the final race and in the end, the LMC will emerge

    “Other popular candidates from the zones may be disqualified also before the final contest,” the source said.

    But Katu told NAN that the committee had no plan to disqualify any candidate that met the requirement set in the electoral guideline.

    “We are already screening candidates and we will be holding our meeting tomorrow (Monday) to know the next step.

    “There is no plan to disqualify anybody that is qualified. We have election guideline that guides us. We asked contestants that want to occupy positions to come and obtain a form and fill it according to the guidelines of the election.

    “Once we are satisfied with the requirements, I don’t see any reason one should be disqualified; we intend to screen and find out whether the contestants are qualified, and once they are qualified, they are qualified.

    “There is no way we can disqualify somebody that is qualified. We are an independent body and we are not going to do anything that is contrary to the guidelines; it’s very clear,” Katu said.

    He however, said that there might be change of activities in the timetable if need be but that would be decided in the committee’s meeting scheduled for Monday.

    “We cannot rule out the possibility of change of date based on election phenomena; we published a timeline but anything can happen at any time but for now, we are working with our schedule.”

    The NFF electoral committee chairman noted that his members were not perturbed or distracted by the current leadership crisis in the country’s football house.

    The timetable for the NFF election showed that intending candidates would buy and return their forms between Aug. 17 and Aug. 24, while screening takes place from Aug. 27 to Aug. 29 with names of candidates to be published on Aug. 30.

    Protests and appeals will be heard and treated between Sept. 4 and Sept. 6, after same must have been submitted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3.

    Publication of final list of candidates will be released on Sept. 7 and elections into the NFF Executive Committee for 2018 to 2022 will hold on Sept. (NAN)

  • FG writes FIFA, recognises Pinnick’s executive committee

    The Federal Government has informed FIFA of its decision to recognize the Amaju-Pinnick- led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the only football governing  body in the country.

    The Special Assistant to Vice-President on Media, Laolu Akande, disclosed the decision in a tweet on Monday.

    “Government will also continue to work with all relevant stakeholders involved to resolve dispute in a timely manner.

    “Federal Government is upholdiing NFF treaty and obligations to FIFA,” Akande stated.

    Read also: NFF crisis Pinnick fails to stop Giwa in court

  • NFF crisis Pinnick fails to stop Giwa in court

    The Federal High Court in Jos yesterday refused to grant a request to stop Chris Giwa from taking over as the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    Amaju Pinnick, whose four-year tenure as NFF President is due to end on Sept. 30, filed a motion challenging the court’s ex-parte order which installed Giwa in office.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court’s latest ruling meant Pinnick has again failed to dislodge Giwa from the NFF.

    Justice Musa Kurya, while ruling in the case between Yahaya Adama/Obinna Ogba and Aminu Maigari/Musa Ahmadu and two others, had on June 5 asked Pinnick’s NFF leadership to vacate office.

    His order had followed a Supreme Court judgment asking the lower court to again look at the matter between Yahaya group and Maigari’s group for determination.

    But Pinnick, through his counsel, Festus Keyamo, had on July 5, stormed the court with two motions.

    They demanded the vacation of the order, pending the determination of an application challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case.

    Unfortunately, the motions could not be heard, due to objection by counsel to Adama and others, Mr Ardzard, leading to the case’s adjournment until July 10.

    When the case came up again on July 10, Keyamo’s representation claim for Maigari and Ahmadu was challenged by Shangyula Samuel.

    Samuel had told the court that he was the only appointed and briefed representative of the duo of Maigari and Ahmadu.

    That argument took long, with Keyamo withdrawing his appearance for the duo and left to represent only Pinnick, leading the judge to adjourn the case to Sept 25 for hearing.

    Kurya had stated he was already on vacation and could only sit when there was a directive from the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN).

    The fiat indeed came from the CJN and the case was then fixed for hearing on Wednesday.

    When the case came up, Festus Ukpe from Keyamo’s Chambers told the court he had three motions for filing before it and which would be done in the afternoon.

    But Ardzard had objected to the Ukpe’s application on the ground that he (Ukpe) had not served them with copies of the motions.

    In his reply Ukpe, said he intended to file later in the day and at the same serve all other counsels in the matter with copies of all the three motions.

    After all arguments, Kurya later had to again adjourn the case to Sept. 25.

    He said this was to enable Pinnick’s counsel properly file his motions before the court and effect service to all the parties involved in the matter.

    NAN reports that this is the second effort by Pinnick to ensure Giwa was stopped from ousting him, by seeking an outright vacation of the order issued by the court.

  • Nigeria risk ban over NFF crisis – Infantino

    FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, said on Friday Nigeria may be banned from all international competitions following the renewal of leadership crisis in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, had two weeks ago directed the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF Executive Committee to leave office following a Supreme Court’s verdict which ordered the re-listing of the case at the Federal High Court in Jos.

    Pinnick and Chris Giwa are key figures in the leadership crisis in the NFF.

    VIDEO

     

    Infantino spoke at Friday’s conference in Moscow, Russia, where he reviewed events at the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup in the Eastern European nation.

    He said: ‘‘The situation is very clear. We have statutes that there can be no interference in the running of an association. Amaji Pinnick is the president recognized by FIFA. He is the president elected by members of the NFF. And that is the end of the story. If any external body thinks they can change the situation, then of course Nigeria will risk being banned as it has happened with other countries because we have processes that need to be respected.

    “It is a very clear cut and simple case as far as we are concerned. We have made this very clear.

    “Maybe you can help us transmit it if we didn’t come across very clear enough.”

    It remains to be seen if the government will heed FIFA’s warning by rescinding its decision on the matter or wait until the body bans the country from all its competitions.

  • EFCC begins investigation of Pinnick, Dikko, others

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is to investigate and take necessary action against Amaju Pinnick, Mallam Shehu Dikko and three other top board members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    This follows a petition it received from a former national team coach, James Peters on May 4, 2018 with a heading: ‘MONUMENTAL STEALING AND FINANCIAL CRIMES IN THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION’ received by the Executive Chairman of EFCC on May 4, 2018.

    In the petition, Peters who coached national teams and led them to notable victories and also served as Technical Director of the NFF for many years urged the EFCC to carry out a thorough investigation on an alleged “unprecedented stealing, corrupt practices and financial crimes being perpetrated by the current President Amaju Pinnick, the General Secretary Dr Mohammed Sanusi, the first Vice President Barrister Seyi Akinwumi, the second Vice President Mallam Shehu Dikko and a member of the Executive Committee Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf (a.k.a Fresh).

    The former Technical Director also alleged “stealing and fraudulent activities by Financial Derivatives Limited, a company cunningly brought into the NFF by Pinnick for the sole purpose of saving money outside the official accounts of the NFF in the Central Bank and diverting same for fraudulent activities.”

    Similarly, the petition stated that “these NFF chieftains have also used the company Mediterranean Sports Limited belonging to Dikko, who is also the Chairman of the League Management Company, a body saddled with the responsibility of running the Elite league, and attracts millions of dollars from sponsorships and Chairman, Marketing and Sponsorship sub-committee of the NFF to collect over 40 per cent of revenues from the numerous sponsors of the NFF “.

    In a notification letter ref no. EFCC/EC/mos/59/17 written to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports by the Executive Chairman, the EFCC notified the Ministry that it has received a petition from Peters and thereby ‘forward same for investigation and necessary action.

    The petitioner also alleged that despite the Federal Government’s policy of Treasury Single Account (TSA) where monies of parastatals are lodged for purposes of checking leakages etcetera, Pinnick and others obtained the services of Financial Derivatives Company Limited to warehouse revenue accruing to the NFF from well-spirited individuals and corporate organisations which never got to the NFF. He alleged too that funds made available by corporate sponsors were never disclosed.

    Peters called for a forensic audit to be carried out to look at all approvals and retirements by the mentioned persons.

  • My dreams for Super Eagles, by Pinnick

    As Nigeria prepares to compete with other nations in the ongoing 2018 World Cup in Russia, which begins yesterday, The Nation newspaper Editorial Board Chairman Sam Omatseye, takes on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Amaju pinnick on the Super Eagles’ preparation, welfare and other football-related activities in this interview. The interview was on TVC’s The Platform. Excerpts…

    How prepared is the team?

    Thank you for having me. It’s a privilege once again to come to TVC. TVC is my home as far as I’m concerned and I’m very proud of what TVC is doing for Nigeria and beyond. I can say clearly that we’re ready for the World Cup. And we’re very excited about our preparation, to me, in all modesty which have been top notch. I must also say I want to thank the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for not only creating the stability we enjoy in football today which has indeed metamorphosed into a lot of prospects for Nigerian football but to take personal interest in ensuring that everything that we require, we got. So, Mr President, again, I would say ‘thank you.’

    Also, I want to thank the minister of sports. He has always been there, very supportive. He has been the pillar behind a lot of the successes we record. But beyond that and more importantly is the team. What we have right now is a team that is, for the first time in the history of Nigeria that is so united. You don’t hear of a Super Eagles that has different factions. We have a team headed by Mikel Obi who has displayed exemplary leadership. He has displayed a lot of dexterity that even me I cannot even comprehend. So, the team is so closely-knit and they talk to themselves for the first time. After every friendly game, they speak to themselves, even before the technical crew comes to talk to them. Then, we also have a coach that is very seasoned, very matured and know exactly what he’s doing. It’s based on this that we said, we’re not going to wait until after the World Cup. We have renewed his contract, which means there is continuity. And one of the other reasons we did that is because we believe we have, statistically, we have the youngest team going to the world Cup. But beyond that, we’re looking at a team that, of course, can make an appreciable and decent presence in this World Cup.

     

    What do you mean by decent?

    Decent can mean ‘win the World Cup.’

     

    Winning the World Cup is not decent

    It’s super-decent

     

    It’s spectacular

    (Laughs) What I mean, going to the World Cup, first must congratulate the 32 teams that made it to the World Cup. You understand the dynamics of going to the World Cup has changed. If you look at great footballing countries like Italy, not being in the World Cup, Netherlands, they were in the semi-finals in the last World Cup, US, a recurring decimal in the World Cup, Chile, the incumbent winner of CONCACAF, the current champion of CONMEBOL. So, you can go on and on. So, the 32 countries, you must congratulate them. Then, again, Nigeria, you must give them special congratulations because, when we started our campaign, nobody gave Nigeria a chance because the four countries in our group, these four countries, AFCON winners.  It’s the strongest group in the history of any World Cup qualifiers anywhere in the world, not just in Africa. Of these four countries, three of these countries were in the last World Cup. Then, if you look at the politics of the game, of these four countries, three of these countries had key members….

     

    What are these countries?

    Zambia had Kalusha Bwalya in the CAF Executive Committee, Cameroon, of course, Issa Hayatou, who is the boss, then Algeria had Mohamed Raouraoua. Nigeria had nobody. But we had God. And to me, that’s what saw us through.

     

    And Guts?

    God and guts. If you have God, it encapsulates all. That’s the truth. So, we told ourselves, we needed to do this. We needed to make Nigerians happy. And indeed, I think we’ve been able to do that. But look at it, from the beginning when we qualified, we had a meeting with the team. Our strategic studies committee, the organising committee and the technical committee, we had to come together and say, okay, what has been the impediment in the past since we started going to the World Cup, not just this last World Cup. Right from USA 94 till all the other world cups till date. So, we look at it, look at some of the pluses, look at some of the minuses. Let’s look at the minuses and see how we can take those off our radar and include some pluses. And that was exactly what we did. We start with the team, had a contract with the team and they signed. We didn’t stifle them. We didn’t put them under duress. They’re adults. We spoke to them the way I speak to my oldest daughter, my oldest child and say, ‘what do you want? Look at what we’re proposing, take. Take your time, go and study it, consult extensively with your players. Mikel said, no, no, no, president, whatever you say is okay. I said, ‘no, it’s not okay. Please go with your coach. Let the coach be your father. No, I’ll give him that title now. I’m your father. So, you people should go. And they went.…. After like about half an hour, they came back and said, ‘president, we’ve agreed on the FIFA funds. The FIFA funds is supposed to be $8m. This money, mind you, it doesn’t come before the World Cup. It comes after the World Cup. But if you look at the incident, because of lack of trust in the past, they feel after the world cup, nobody listens to them, nobody talks to them. So, they always want the money before the world cup. We believe even though they showed exceptional discipline but anything can happen. We didn’t want anything that can happen to happen. So, at that point, we said okay, we sat, we did everything and we agreed on 30% which translates to $2.8m. Appearance fees for the five friendly games at $3,000 and the backroom staff, everybody. Then match winning bonus. We decided to say that, okay, the first match that they will play.

     

    Is it in the world cup?

    The World cup. The world cup, we’re going to be paid $15,000. We needed that motivation because the first hurdle is going through the first round. Yes, to us, to the team, they’ve displayed patriotism but we also need to add some monetary motivation in making sure that our approach is not just being patriotic. It’s about looking at something that they also can get and also a comprehensive insurance package from our insurers in case anything happens. Beyond what FIFA is providing as a cover. We have our own comprehensive insurance. And we made all these things clearly known to them, this is the area we’re going to. This is exactly what we want to do. And in all of these, I was always communicating with the honourable minister and he consented to practically everything that we did. And we promised them, you’re going to get your money before the World Cup. They were surprised.

     

    Have they gotten the money?

    Yes, the money has been given to them. I’m coming. We also made them to understand that this is money is going to be given to you. We know we earn big money, but we’re also going to come out with in Abuja before you leave, with a seminar. We need to get some resource persons that will come and educate you on some investment opportunities. Our relationship should not be strictly generic to pitch, playing football alone. We should be able to give you a life after playing football. You may have heard from so many portfolio managers, so many investment experts and all those stuff. But we have our partners. They’re going to do it for free, they will come and educate you on how to invest. They were very excited about it. And once we got o Abuja, because some of our sponsors from Zenith Bank, from WAPIC, from PWC, Financial Derivatives came and made presentations to them. And till tomorrow, they’re still interfacing. Why are we doing that? We observe that after their playing days, players, one year, two years, they fizzle out with nothing absolutely. And we did that. And they applauded it. It’s the first time, because what we’re trying to do, even if you look at our backroom staffing. Before you see a coach, an assistant coach and that’s it. But today, we don’t just have a chiropractor and osteopath, we have a yoga trainer. And yoga training is all about concentration before a game, full concentration. And all those are the things that we have brought into the Super Eagles. So, when you see them win, it’s not just a fluke. We have our backroom analysts that analyses the game. We have the one for defence, the one for midfield and the one attack. So, whatever you’re seeing in these friendlies, even though we lost, to me, there are a lot of positives coming out of it. I’m happy we didn’t embarrass the country in England, we didn’t embarrass the country playing Czech.

     

    You embarrassed the country in first half in England

    No, no, no. You see, the truth is, it’s a game. When Brazil in Brazil lost 6 – 0 to Germany in the semi-finals, the Brazilians were sad but they didn’t castrate the team. They supported them. Today, Brazil is back again. That is the mentality we should try and imbibe in Nigeria.

     

    Can you tell us what happened, what changed from the first half to the second half in England?

    You see, what changed was that, to me, there are some information that I have that I cannot divulge. And that’s the truth. I’m the president of Nigeria Football Federation, I swore to an oath. I talk to my coach and I know some of the things that happened. If I say it publicly, it might affect the morale of the team. But trust me, there was nothing fundamentally wrong in the team. I know a couple of things that went wrong which we corrected.

     

     

  • Pinnick: Why I want to remain NFF president

    NFF president Amaju Pinnick has said his rising prominence at FIFA and CAF as well as his drive to make the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) financially independent are the main reasons he wishes to continue as the president of the country’s football association.

    Pinnick’s first tenure of four years will come to an end in September with fresh elections into the NFF executive committee in Katsina.

    The NFF boss said he believes he had done enough to be elected for a second four-year tenure.

    “I’m in CAF, I’m on the FIFA organising committee and will even work for FIFA in Saint Petersburg,” he said on a television interview programme monitored by SCORENigeria.

    “There have been more than ten pluses for Nigeria with me in CAF, and some things are better not said.”

    He also spoke on the marketing drive which he claimed has made NFF closer to being financially independent of government funding.

    “We are now 60% (self-sufficient), and only 40% remains before we will tell the government to hands off financing us,” Pinnick said.

    However, those opposed to Pinnick leading Nigerian football, allege massive corruption in the NFF, poor results recorded by the country’s various age-group teams caused by neglect as well as the running of a domestic league, which has left a lot to be desired.

  • It’s more than a game, say Arkwright, Pinnick

    Excitement ahead of next month’s prestigious international friendly between Nigeria and England’s ‘A’ teams, began to build up on Thursday after the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Amaju Pinnick and the Second Vice President, Mallam Shehu Dikko met with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright.

    Arkwright received the NFF chieftains at the British High Commission in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and used the opportunity to inform the Federation that the High Commission will organise some events around the match both in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

    “Let me also assure you that England is taking this match very seriously. It is more than just a game; it is a big preparatory game towards the FIFA World Cup. More than that, the historical ties between our two countries are there to be considered, so it will also serve to strengthen and enhance relations and good collaboration between our countries,” said Arkwright.

    Pinnick told Arkwright that the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom is also involved in effort to ensure the match is a huge success, coming less than two weeks before the opening match of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.

    “We appreciate the excellent and cordial relations between our two countries and that is one of the reasons this is more than just a match. It is coming up only two weeks before Nigeria’s first match at the FIFA World Cup, and 16 days before England’s first match in Russia. Ours are two countries that have so much in common. We believe this match will go a long way in strengthening England-Nigeria relations in several areas.”

    Also present at the meeting was Louise Edwards, who is Second Secretary, Political Secretary of the British High Commission in Nigeria.

    The Super Eagles and the Three Lions will lock horns at the Wembley Stadium on Saturday, 2nd June, in what will be the Eagles’ penultimate friendly match before flying to the World Cup finals in Russia.

  • $2.8m will be ready for Eagles World Cup campaign – Pinnick

    $2.8m will be ready for Eagles World Cup campaign – Pinnick

    The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, said on Friday the sum of $2.8 million needed for the Super Eagles 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign would be available by end of April.

    He disclosed this at the inauguration of Odu’a Football Leagues at the Western Nigeria Football Forum office, Cocoa House, Ibadan.

    Pinnick said NFF been working round the clock to get the money ready, adding that it was necessary to ensure adequate preparation for the tournament.

    According to him, availability of fund and other things will boost the morale of the players, coaches, technical staff, supporters and other stakeholders in the tournament.

    Pinnick said his team was working tirelessly behind the scene to ensure Nigerian players plying their trade in foreign clubs featured regularly for their teams.

    He lauded promoters of the Western Nigeria Football Forum – Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, Mr. Seyi Akinwunmi, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde and other stakeholders for their roles in soccer development in the Southwest.

  • Pinnick reads riot act to national coaches, NFF staff

    Pinnick reads riot act to national coaches, NFF staff

    Amaju Pinnick, President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has directed the federation’s Legal Department to henceforth work closely with the Legal Committee for the enforcement of the Code of Conduct.

    Pinnick, who spoke on Wednesday in Abuja, said there was the need to ensure the enforcement of the code enshrined in the national coaches’ contracts.

    He also directed that a separate document be developed to be signed by the Head Coach and Team Administrator of every national team embarking on any assignment.

    “Henceforth, the NFF will visit any violation of the code with stiff sanctions as enshrined in the code and the coaches’ respective contracts.

    “People will as from now take responsibility for their actions, inactions, misconduct, negligence and downright ineptitude.

    “We cannot continue to go on this way. What happened was a major gaffe and we will no longer condone this level of indolence and lack of seriousness.

    “People must change their general attitude and their approach to work henceforth, or be ready to face sanctions,’’ the NFF president said.

    He spoke at a meeting with NFF management and staff in Abuja, against the background of the sanctions imposed on Nigeria by FIFA over Super Eagles’ use of an ineligible player.

    Pinnick also charged the heads of different departments and units in the federation to be much more alive to their responsibilities.

    He then directed that extant rules and regulations be fully enforced to deal with erring members of management and staff of NFF.