UAE-based Nigerian football coach and administrator Marcello Anyanwu has renewed his demand for changes to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Statutes before the 2026 elections, cautioning that seeking the presidency under the existing framework may prove pointless.
Anyanwu, who previously coached at the Arsenal Soccer School’s Dubai Training Centre and stood in the last NFF elections, has criticised the federation’s continued refusal to alter its statutes.
His concerns focus on what he sees as an uneven NFF Congress structure, which he says gives State Football Association (FA) chairmen disproportionate control over the federation’s operations and electoral process.
The present Congress consists of 44 members. That number includes 37 State FA chairmen, including the Federal Capital Territory representative, as well as delegates from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Nigeria National League (NNL), Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), Nationwide League One (NLO), Coaches Association, Referees Association and Players’ Union.
Anyanwu maintains that the 37 State FA chairmen possess such a dominant voting position that they can largely decide presidential contests and shape the federation’s most important resolutions.
He believes the system consequently restricts the influence of other key groups, such as players, coaches, clubs, women’s football officials and administrators based outside Nigeria.
In his view, placing so much voting authority in one group allows existing power networks to preserve their control of the federation. Reform-focused and independent contenders, meanwhile, may find it difficult to gain traction without support from State FA chairmen.
Anyanwu also argued that the imbalance extends into the NFF’s day-to-day governance, affecting financial decisions, disciplinary proceedings and appointments, while weakening the checks and balances intended to provide oversight.
He believes any overhaul should produce a wider and fairer distribution of representation within the NFF Congress.
His proposals include stronger representation for clubs, players, coaches and women’s football administrators, alongside term limits for State FA chairmen and NFF executives. He is also seeking a more decentralised decision-making process and greater transparency and accountability in elections and financial administration.
The former Arsenal Soccer School coach sees the 2026 NFF elections as a chance to confront the federation’s governance problems.
He said the NFF should bring its statutes into line with international best practice and establish an arrangement in which all principal football stakeholders have a genuine role in determining the game’s direction.
Anyanwu’s push for statutory change is not, therefore, limited to his own political ambitions. He argues that restructuring the federation’s governance is essential to the sustainable progress of Nigerian football.
As the 2026 elections draw closer, he maintains that Nigerian football’s future will depend not only on performances on the field but also on the regulations that control how the sport is administered.
