The Senate Committee on Sports has called the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the National Sports Commission (NSC) to an emergency session over the Super Eagles’ failure to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the Super Falcons’ omission from the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Committee chairman Senator Abdul Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central, led the meeting. NSC chairman Shehu Dikko and NFF president Ibrahim Musa Gusau were also present, he said.
Ningi explained that Senate President Godswill Akpabio had directed him to convene the session and personally requested an account of the deterioration in Nigerian football. He added that the discussions would provide the foundation for a detailed report to the Senate when it returns next month.
“I am acting with the mandate of the Senate President for this crucial meeting,” Ningi said. He described the gathering as an opening step ahead of his presentation to the Senate on the condition of sport, especially football, in Nigeria and the measures required to improve the country’s results.
Ningi also said the meeting was intended to narrow the divide between the NFF and the NSC. He claimed the organisations were “wide apart” and revealed that another session was being considered, possibly at the Villa, although no date was announced.
He noted that the national teams’ disappointing results had come despite what he termed unprecedented financial backing from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Ningi pointed to a reported $100,000 disbursement to players and officials, along with an almost fourfold increase in the sports ministry’s budget, saying the outcomes could not be blamed solely on inadequate funding.
Ningi described Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup and the Super Falcons’ absence from the 2027 Women’s World Cup as “painful developments.” The results, he said, had strengthened demands from football stakeholders and supporters for change, including calls to dissolve the NFF. However, he emphasised that any step by the government or National Assembly must remain consistent with Nigerian law and FIFA’s statutes.
“Any measure we adopt must be grounded in the law,” Ningi said. “That means examining both our own legislation and the FIFA statutes.”
In his concluding remarks, Ningi assured Nigerians that the Senate would investigate the circumstances behind the national teams’ performances and assess lawful options for bringing back discipline and competitiveness.
