Several Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) presidential hopefuls have asked the Presidency, National Assembly and National Sports Commission to intervene before the September 27 Elective Congress in Lafia. They allege that a coordinated refusal to provide endorsements is positioning incumbent president Ibrahim Musa Gusau to win a second term without opposition.
Quick facts
- NFF Elective Congress: September 27 in Lafia
- Nomination submission deadline: Wednesday, August 12
- Incumbent seeking another term: Ibrahim Musa Gusau
- Lagos State is currently the only body said to have endorsed one unnamed aspirant
- The statutes require at least one Executive Committee place to be reserved for a woman
Sections 2.6 of the election guidelines and 4.2 of the eligibility rules, both based on Article 31(3) of the NFF Statutes 2026, state that candidates for president, first vice-president and third vice-president must be nominated under the applicable requirement. The supplied provision does not specify the remainder of that nomination requirement.
Aspirants for the other Executive Committee positions need endorsements from at least three members representing three separate zones. The statutes also guarantee at least one Executive Committee position for a female candidate and prohibit a member from supporting more than one contender for the same office; any such duplicate endorsement invalidates both nominations.
One presidential hopeful said he had so far been unable to obtain backing in the North, South-South, South-East or South-West. Lagos State, he said, was the only organisation prepared to sign his nomination form.
Speaking anonymously, the aspirant alleged that potential endorsers in other areas were refusing because they feared political reprisals, although he provided no independent evidence for that claim. He maintained that rival groups confident of their support should permit every aspirant to appear on the ballot and allow delegates to decide at the congress instead of narrowing the field in advance.
He added that the Wednesday, August 12 filing deadline had left little time to break the deadlock.
A second aspirant said he had decided not to buy an election form after being informed by unnamed contacts that stakeholders from the three northern zones had reached an agreement not to endorse anyone other than Gusau.
He argued that the alleged northern pact had made it virtually impossible for a challenger to secure the zonal spread of endorsements demanded by the rules.
Both aspirants called for intervention from the Presidency, the National Assembly and the National Sports Commission. In their view, an endorsement system that can determine the winner before voting takes place damages the credibility of the Elective Congress and denies candidates a fair contest.
