NFF Leadership Tussle: The Politics, Power Play and Intrigues at the Glass House

By Admin The influence of the Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation Muhammed Sanusi in the Presidency was the reason the pendulum has swung in the favour of the embattled Amaju Pinnick-led board in the fight for the soul of soccer in the country, Saturday Telegraph has reliably learnt. Club owner Chris Giwa, in the past one month, had been acting as the substantive President of the federation based on the pronouncement of the Supreme Court which affirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court in Jos that recognised him as the authentic boss of the NFF. The ‘new board’ had taken some decisions which included the sacking of Sanusi as the General Secretary and the appointment of Emmanuel Ikpeme in acting capacity and called for the NFF Congress which was fixed for July 26 in Abuja to ratify their decisions. However, our correspondent learnt the resolution to relieve the Kebbi State-born administrator was the albatross of the Giwa’s group. Things changed on Monday when operatives of the Department of States Security Services, stormed the Secretariat of the federation to reinstate Pinnick’s board with a letter from the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami warning stakeholders to maintain the status quo before the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Our source said Sanusi had tapped his contact in the Presidency including the Chief of Staff to president Buhari Abba Kyari to save his job. “Sanusi is not an ally of Pinnick but the fate has now brought the two of them together. In fact, Pinnick had on two occasions tried to fire the Secretary General but orders came from above to stop that,” a source in the Glass House reliably informed our correspondent. “The interesting thing is that Pinnick and his board never viewed Sanusi as an ally because of his closeness to the former President of the Federation Aminu Maigari who was nursing an ambition to return to the Glass House in the next election. But fate brought them together when Giwa showed Sanusi the exit door. “The fate of Sanusi and that of Pinnick’s board would have been sealed if the Congress called by Giwa’s group had held. The Secretary General contacted Kyari who promised to intervene in the crisis with a view to restore Sanusi to his position. The SGF approached the Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung to intervene in the matter on behalf of his ‘brother’ but he bluntly declined which forced Kyari to exercise his influence by co-opting the Attotrney General of the Federation to join him.” According to our sources, Dalung endorsed the sacking of Sanusi because he was not offering enough information as regard the activities of the Pinnick’s board. Saturday Telegraph learnt that Dalung was looking for overwhelming evidence of corruption against the First Vice president of the Confederation of African Football but Sanusi was not playing ball. “He was even accused of divulging information from Giwa group to Pinnick and his men,” a source said. “Another Sanusi’s contact in the Presidency with the endorsement of the AGF facilitated the deployment of the DSS operatives to the NFF secretariat. I can confirm that President Muhammadu Buhari is oblivious of the power play going on as regard football and Dalung had sought to an audience with him to call Malami and others to order.” Meanwhile, our correspondent has learnt about the conditions Giwa would present for peace to reign in Nigerian football. “Giwa is committed to peace talk but only when Pinnick and his men are ready to show sincerity,” another source informed our correspondent. “He wants one of his men to become the Secretary General in the next board. He also wants another person from his group to head the league and become NFF’s second vice President including unbanning of himself, three other followers and restoration of his club in the local league."