At Last, Senate Passes NFF Bill

ABUJA – By Olusegun Lawrence               After third reading, the Senate on Tuesday, passed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Bill 2017.
Sequel to the presentation of the report of the Committee on Youth and Sports Development by the chairman, Senator Obinna Ogba, the passage followed a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill and a voice vote by the lawmakers.
Recalling series of court cases relating to football, which he noted did not augur well for the country, Ogba insisted it was necessary to repeal the law and sanitise football administration in the country.
His words, “It has become necessary to repeal the Extant Act. This is because it requires a lot of amendments to bring it into agreement with FIFA required international best practices. It is to give the desired boost it requires.
“The Bill has no financial implication because it is only seeking  for a change in the name of the football body in order to achieve greater and better results in future.
“It seeks to ensure that only those who are actually involved in competitive football matches are members of the Federation and not just organisations and establishments as contained in the extant act.
“The bill also makes provision for the election of a President to lead the Executive Committee as against the existing law where the governing body of the association is a board appointed from different organisations.
“It further seeks to ensure mandatory systematic development of football through institutional, age and gender competitions.
“Also, the bill makes provision for development of coaches and referees to enable them participate in international competitions.
“The committee strongly believes that through this piece of legislation, the objectives as expressed in the long title of the bill and explanatory memorandum will be achieved.”
Speaking, Senate President Bukola Saraki, lauded the committee for a job well done.
“The message here is for us to bring Nigeria in line with best practices and best ways to administer football in the country.
“This has been an embarrassment over the years, but with the passage of this bill, the grey areas will be taken care of.”