By Ayomide Otitoju
The Bureau of the FIFA Council has approved the appointment of a Normalisation Committee to oversee the affairs of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) pending fresh elections into its Executive Committee.
The NFF disclosed this in a statement, citing a letter signed by FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafström and addressed to Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme.
According to the letter, the committee will comprise members to be jointly appointed by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as soon as possible.
The committee will remain in office until it completes its assigned tasks, but not beyond May 31, 2027. FIFA also stated that none of its members would be eligible to contest any position in the forthcoming NFF elections.
Pending the committee’s appointment, the NFF Secretariat will continue to manage the federation’s day-to-day operations and administer Nigerian football.
The decision follows developments in the country’s football administration in August, when former NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation’s Executive Committee resigned.
The National Sports Commission (NSC) subsequently approved Emmanuel Ikpeme as interim General Secretary and Ademola Olajire as interim Deputy General Secretary, while the planned NFF elective congress was suspended pending reforms.
President Bola Tinubu had also directed a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football, with the NSC mandated to work with the NFF and engage FIFA and CAF on the process.
