Guardian

THE Nigerian leagues and the 2012 Annual General Assembly (AGM) of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will dominate deliberations at the federation’s executive board meeting scheduled to hold Wednesday in Abuja.

Nigerian football has recently faced challenges, including the inability of the league bodies to have their annual congresses, which usually precedes the new season, and the controversy surrounding NFF’s annual general assembly.

The NFF AGM was earlier scheduled for Port Harcourt, but the federation decided to take it away from the Garden City in protest over comments by the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, who accused the NFF board of corruption during last month’s Presidential Retreat on Sports in Abuja.

Following the statement by Amaechi, who was the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Super Eagles Qualification for South Africa 2010 World Cup, NFF Zonal Coordinators Forum Chairman, Chidi Offor Okenwa, who is also the chairman of Enugu State Football Association, told journalists that they met and informed the federation that they would not go to Port Harcourt for the AGM.

He added that it would be difficult for the federation to continue its romance with Amaechi. A member of the NFF board, who confirmed to The Guardian at the weekend that the NFF President, Aminu Maigari, has agreed to convene a meeting of the board members tomorrow in Abuja, said the disputes in the leagues would also be on the agenda.

“There are so many critical issues facing the federation right now. As we are talking now, none of the leagues has kicked off,” the board member said, pleading anonymity.

“The Nigeria Premier League has bigger issues, including the problems that led to the cancellation of the both its congress slated for Kano and the postponement of the league, earlier scheduled to kick off in the first week of December.

“It is good that the president has agreed to call a meeting this week so that these burning issues will be thrashed out. After the meeting, we will come out with a statement on the proposed AGM. This is because I personally do not think that the statement from the zonal coordinators was in the interest of the federation.”

He added: “The zonal coordinators have no powers to determine for the NFF or take decisions on behalf on the federation. Yes, we consult them on issues like this, but it is not within their position to determine for the federation who they romance with.

“We only have a collaboration of ideas to move football forward in the country, but it is the board of the NFF that takes decisions on major football issues. ”

Also speaking on the meeting, Maigari noted that the meeting was in line with the provisions of the NFF Statute, adding that members would be meeting to deliberate on measures that would be taken to actualise the board’s goal of moving forward, especially the Super Eagles’ preparations for AFCON 2012.