Dalung: Minister of Sports

Minister of Youth and Sports Development Solomon Dalung, said on Thursday that the order of the Jos Federal High Court did not mandate Chris Giwa to takeover as NFF President.

Dalung spoke in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Sports at the National Assembly to brief the committee on efforts made to resolve the NFF leadership crisis.

The minister said the order never directed Giwa to assume duties as the president of the country’s football federation, a decision that necessitated the deployment of police to protect the NFF.

He said that the military could be deployed to protect the football secretariat if the police fail in their duty.

“The court made it clear that what it did was to give Giwa the right to come back and present his case; the ruling did not give him power to be the NFF president.

“So, legally, both parties are now in court, while FIFA has fired a warning shot to ban Nigeria if anybody effects the Jos High Court ruling. After seeing the situation, I was the one who ordered the police to move and occupy the complex and protect the property since certain forces have been mobilising to occupy the place.

“I moved police in order to protect lives and property and I have consulted widely with so many stakeholders including FIFA for a more advanced advice on how to handle this situation.

Pinnick: NFF president

“From the sum total of the advices, I concluded on setting up a committee chaired by former chairman of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima.

“We also mobilised both lawyers that have served internationally and in FIFA to be part of the committee; however, as I speak to you, the committee has adjourned for one week because of paucity of funds,’’ Dalung said.

According to him, the NFF leadership crisis has put him in “the middle of the devil and deep blue sea.

“Since the crisis started, my Blood Pressure (BP) has continued to rise until I got the invitation from the committee before I could sleep very well with a stable BP.

“The summary of the situation is that I am sandwiched between the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which I swore to protect and an international statute of FIFA, which we also subscribed to.

Chris Giwa

“I have consulted widely and spoken to a lot of people to provide insight as to the enormity of what we have on ground.

“As a lawyer, I have gone through the judgment meticulously, trying to understand and appreciate what the order is saying.

“All that the court did was that now you have approached me again, I have given both of you equal opportunity to come for hearing,’’ he added.

The committee on Sports has invited the Giwa-led faction to appear before it on Tuesday next week to explain its side of the matter.

The Amaju Pinnick-led board of the NFF had stated its side in the leadership crisis alongside the Minister of Youth and Sports.

As a result of the invitation, the Chris Giwa-led board did not hold its proposed congress scheduled for Thursday.

Chairman of the committee, Bukar Lawal, said the invitation was to enable the committee to understand and mediate in the matter and also not to aggravate the crisis.

“We are directed by the House to mediate in the matter. We have heard from the minister; and the Giwa group will be here on Tuesday because it is batch by batch”, Bunu said.

Meanwhile, Dalung has said he had no right to stop anybody from gathering.

Dalung said the court order that led to the crisis arose because the FIFA laws had not been domesticated.

“We are under democracy, I, Solomon Dalung, have no right to stop Giwa’s group from gathering.

“I don’t have the right; let me inform this committee that there is even a letter from a committee of the National Assembly accusing me of using police to breaching the rights of Nigerians.

“Why should I stop Giwa from taking over, so, I cannot stop anybody from gathering,” Dalung stressed.

Giwa, on his part, said he would respect the committee’s advice to put his congress on hold.

“I am a law abiding citizen and being President of the NFF, I will not want to be a leader where there is crisis.

“What the House is trying to do is to bring peace and I want to be part of that peace.

“They advised us to shelve the congress for the sake of peace pending when they meet with us on Tuesday.

“So, as a Nigerian, I think I have to respect the House”, Giwa said.