NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION TO MEET OVER COURT RULING

The board of the Nigeria Football Federation is expected to hold an emergency meeting on Monday (today) in Abuja following a judgement passed by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday. The emergency gathering summoned by the president of the body Aminu Maigari is for the board members to be briefed by their lawyer and determine the next line of action.

The NFF Media Officer Ademola Olajire confirmed the meeting to THE PUNCH on the telephone on Sunday.

He said, “Yes, all the members are in the country and are expected to attend the meeting.”

A former president of the Nigeria Referees Association, Sam Sam Jaja went to court to challenge his disqualification to run in the Nigeria Premier League elections in May, 2010. He sought the court to determine the NFF and NPL’s legality in line with Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution. The Judge declared that neither the NFF nor NPL had any statutory recognition.

The ruling reads in part, “…The names NPL and NFF are illegal before the law, since there is no statute recognising their existence in the country.”

By Friday, the NFF claimed it had not received a copy of the judgement but explained that their lawyer would make a copy available before today’s meeting.

“We have not seen a copy of the judgement apart from the chat we had with our lawyer. He said something about the NFF and NPL not being properly incorporated or registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, but the lawyer himself was yet to get a copy of the judgement. However, the learned Judge did not make any consequential order thereto.

“By the time we get a copy of the judgement on Monday, we will be able to react fully. As for now, the business of running Nigeria football is unaffected, as we have 90 days to appeal any judgement, during which the status quo, legally, remains,” the General Secretary of the NFF, Musa Amadu said.