Key parties at odds regarding Nigerian Football Federation polls

Nigerian football stakeholders are deeply divided over the prospect of suspending the Nigeria Football Federation elections, with former internationals citing the country's recent struggles in continental football as a clear indication that the system is in dire need of reform.

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Abiodun Obafemi, a former Dream Team star and member of Nigeria's gold medal-winning squad at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, expressed his dismay at the stark contrast between the team's triumphant past and the current state of the game, following the exit of both the Super Falcons and the Flying Eagles from their respective World Cup qualification pathways.

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Obafemi lamented the fact that Nigeria is facing a World Cup miss for the first time, with the Falcons and the young Flying Eagles both missing out, and noted that the team's spirit and relationship with the administration and coaches have changed significantly since his playing days.

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The Super Falcons were eliminated from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations by Cameroon in the quarter-finals on Sunday, resulting in Nigeria's failure to secure automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while the Flying Eagles suffered a 4-1 defeat to Burkina Faso in the final of the WAFU Zone B Under-20 Championship.

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This defeat eliminated Nigeria from contention for next year’s Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations and, by extension, the 2027 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan, adding weight to renewed calls from former Super Eagles captain Segun Odegbami for a temporary suspension of the NFF’s 2026 Executive Committee elections.

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Odegbami has argued that the country's football administration has failed to match the enormous talent within Nigerian football, describing NFF elections as having become “a four-yearly ritual of crisis,” and has appealed to President Bola Tinubu and other well-meaning Nigerians to halt the process, scheduled for September 27 in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

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Ebi Egbe, Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Sports Facility, has echoed Odegbami's position, arguing that the current electoral structure, in which 37 of the 44 Congress delegates are state Football Association chairmen, gives incumbents an overwhelming advantage over genuine reformers.

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Egbe noted that it will be very difficult for genuine reformers to even consider buying nomination forms for the current NFF elections when the electoral structure appears to give the 37 State Football Association members such enormous influence over the outcome.

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However, not all stakeholders support a halt to the elections, with Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Athletics and Other Sports Development Commission, rejecting Odegbami’s position, describing it as being driven by personal interest rather than the broader development of Nigerian football.

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Gara-Gombe challenged Odegbami to account for controversies surrounding the Shell Cup and the Nigeria Academicals Sports Committee, which he chaired, alleging that the former international had “no moral right to talk about corruption or accountability.”

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Gara-Gombe also disputed claims that Odegbami’s failed attempt to secure an NFF position in the past was due to a flawed process, insisting Odegbami had failed to secure the required endorsement from Football Associations in his South-West zone.

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While rejecting calls to stop the election outright, Gara-Gombe agreed that broader electoral reform was necessary, though he maintained that such changes could only be delivered through the National Assembly rather than court action.

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Gara-Gombe called on the National Sports Commission, led by Chairman Shehu Dikko and Director-General Bukola Olopade, to publicly clarify its position on the controversy, stating that their silence suggests they are behind it.

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The debate over the NFF’s electoral structure is set to intensify in the weeks leading up to September’s Elective Congress in Lafia, as Nigeria faces an unfamiliar reality of missing out on senior and age-grade World Cup qualification in the same window when the Super Eagles had also just missed the 2026 World Cup.