The recent move by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to reconstitute the board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), while abrogating the Interim Management Committee (IMC) which had received praise from far and near, for organizing one of best elite division seasons, in the last nine years have been greeted by mixed reactions; from diverse facets of football stakeholders in the country.
Many had expected the NFF to stay true to their promise of having the IMC run the League for just six months, and hand it over to an elected body, which used to be the practice before the emergence of the League Management Company (LMC).
The LMC was ordained by the Alhaji Aminu Maigari-led board, in its twilight weeks; but was emboldened by the Amaju Pinnick-led board, throughout it’s eight-year on the saddle, and is considered an abbreviation, by many pundits.
As it were, the NFF retained Engr. Gbenga Elegbeleye and former International, Davison Owumi; who were Chairman and Head of Operations of the now defunct IMC, to continue in the same role in the newly reconstituted NPFL Board.
But the first salvo fired was, why an appointed board, instead of an elected board, as enunciated by FIFA, which insists that the leagues should be run independently, while the federations excercise oversight functions.
As usual with the present board of the NFF, led by a very meticulous President, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau who bids his time before uttering the few words that have been attributed to him, since he mounted the saddle on September 30th in Benin, has yet to respond to these queries.
However, it is crystal clear that the NFF tested the waters, by first making appointments for the reconstituted lower leagues, that’s the National League (NNL), Nationwide League One, and Women’s Football League (NWFL); and once it found that the bait was condoned, they got reassurances that their grandplan can be foisted on the elite group of football stakeholders in the land.
Considering the calibre of individuals, appointed to serve in the new NPFL Board; many of the critics are apparently certified that many of them are round pegs in round holes. They therefore seem to have a abandoned their advocacy for an elected board, and some of them are now more engrossed with picking holes in the appoints made by the NFF.
For instance, there has been an outcry that the South-East, which is the only zone, represented by a single person in the 15-man NFF board; has nobody in the reconstituted NPFL board.
We fact checked and found that Engr. Elegbeleye is from the South-West, Davison Owumi (South-South),
Okey Kpalokwu (South South), Mallam Mohammed Nasiru Sa’idu (North West), Dominic Iorfa (North Central), Mallam Suleiman Umar (North East), Daniel Amokachi (North Central), Barr. Danlami Ibrahim (North Central), and Porbeni Ogun (South South); and they were given a two-year tenure.
The question begging for an answer is, where is the South East in this arrangement; and who would represent the interests of the four clubs in that Zone: Enyimba FC, Enugu Rangers, Abia Warriors and Heartland FC, when push turns to solve? After all, two out of these four sides – Enyimba and Heartland FC – won the two elitist league troghies in the land (the NPFL and NNL titles) last season; while Rangers were the beaten finalists of the 2023 NFF Federation Cup, won by Bendel Insurance of Benin.
Although the NFF has been slow in reacting to this and other similar issues, it is hoped that any time soon, they will come up with an acceptable response that would calm frail nerves.
