“Facts are facts and cannot disappear on accounts of your likes”- Josh Billing
There doesn’t seem to be an end to the crisis NFF has been embroiled in since after the World Cup. It should be noted that this crisis cannot be divorced from Eagles inability to qualify for AFCON. Most of Eagles matches were prosecuted amidst the crisis. So while our group opponents were busy perfecting strategies for the qualifiers, we were hopping from one stage of the crisis to the other. But when we were trying to pick the pieces of our nose-diving football fortunes, the NFF Electoral Appeals Committee came out with its verdict(s). Just one Appeals Committee was set up by the NFF Congress but we have two verdicts. What an enigma.
After the Committee’s public hearing, the verdict was expected to follow in a matter of days. But then it lingered. Now, we know why. While the delay lasted, the likes of Bar. Iyke Igbokwe tried to pre-empt the committee. It was alleged that the Committee was under immense pressure to alter its findings. Whoever dismissed such claims with a wave of the hand will not do so now. It is only for that reason that we will have two conflicting reports from the same Committee. First a perceived majority came out with a verdict on Wednesday while the only lawyer in the committee and its chairman, Okey Ajunwa delivered his on Thursday. The former verdict authenticated the September 30 election while the latter canceled four of the positions including that of NFF president, Amaju Pinnick. Expectedly, all the stakeholders have been trumping up the verdicts to suit their positions. The NFF image maker, Demola Olajire has therefore battled to validate the verdict that upheld Pinnick’s election. In the same vein, those who will benefit from a fresh election are lending credence to Ajunwa’s verdict.
My task here today is not to decide which of the verdicts should be adopted. It is all up to FIFA to come out with a position after studying the various submissions. In fact, while I was doing this piece, FIFA was reported to have issued a letter authenticating the majority verdict. Whatever interests one has do not however take away the facts on the ground. Let me give you a little assignment. Put both documents (verdicts) side by side, what do you see? Isn’t one well detailed in lucid legal jargons while the other looks more or less like a press release? One is a 96 paged document while the other is a two paged ‘Press Statement’. Now, juxtapose the different petitions, particularly that of Igbokwe, with the defense submissions at the public hearing, what’s your take? Which of the verdicts would do justice to both the petitioners and the defendants? Now, let me ask you; did we have South East represented by two Abians and North West by two Kano indigenes aftermath that September 30 election? If the answer is yes, is it right? Was Shehu Dikko disqualified on the floor of the Congress? If yes, was it also right? This little assignment should guide your judgment. I don’t expect you to publicly acknowledge which of the verdicts you believe is right but your conscience knows it.
Whoever was in Warri for the Elective Congress knows exactly what transpired. Even the biggest beneficiaries know a great injustice was done to arrive at that end. First was the fact that State Security apparatuses were deployed to stop Dikko from coming to Warri. But even at that, he was still eligible to be voted for in proxy. According to the Electoral Guidelines, once a candidate was cleared, he should be on the ballot. Whether he came to the Congress or not was secondary. But if the shenanigans had stopped at barring Dikko from showing up in Warri, the petition wouldn’t have had substance. In Dikko’s absence, the other candidates had a field day campaigning for votes at the election venue. That should have placed them on the advantage. But it was perceived that a greater number of the Congress still wanted to vote for Dikko in his absence. The Electoral Committee chairman, Samson Ebomhe was under intense pressure to disqualify Dikko but the young man was adamant that Dikko had met all the requirements and there was no premise upon which he could be disqualified. We all waited for over three hours as an election earlier billed to start 11 am was delayed. At that point, news filtered in that the reason for the delay was that Ebomhe had been detained. When Ebomhe showed up much later, driven in by the security personnel, he announced that the Electoral Guidelines had been altered, so whoever failed to turn up at the venue of the election would be deemed to have withdrawn from the election. That announcement was made at the floor of the Congress. So before our very eyes, the roll call was made. Taiwo Ogunjobi, Pinnick, Dominic Iorfa, Amanze Uchegbulem, Abba Yola and Mike Umeh were present while Dikko was absent. So Dikko’s name was struck off the ballot with a marker. In fact, the NFF staff saddled with the task of deleting Dikko’s name and picture from the ballot paper confessed that while he did so, tears gathered in his eyes.
That was how Dikko, a front runner, was disqualified and Pinnick emerged winner. In the same vein, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, from Abia, was elected to represent South East when the zone already had NNL chairman, Emeka Inyama, also from Abia on the NFF Board. Rabiu Inuwa got elected from North West when fellow Kano indigene, Nigeria Nationwide League chairman, Ahmed Kawo was already a member of the Board.
Unknown to many, Ajunwa was in Warri and witnessed all these live. So when the Committee therefore called for a public hearing and consequently the defendants’ submissions, it was only a mere formality. He knew all that transpired. He has just done a ‘Pontius Pilate’ on Nigerian football. When it got to the point when he was under compulsion to give a verdict that went contrary to what we all witnessed in Warri, he had to wash his hands of it. Here was a man who had a legal career to protect. His integrity was at stake. Strikers are judged by the number of goals they score, lawyers are judged by their incorruptibility and ability to interpret statutes, constitutions and other legal documents. He has studied the NFF Statutes and Electoral Guidelines and has given a verdict he deems ideal given the circumstances. Whether it is accepted or not is no longer his business. He will walk away with his head held high, thump his chest and say ‘I did the right thing’. The facts are not subject to your conjecture. You might sit on the truth, but its head always sticks out.
So, whether we or FIFA accept Ajunwa’s verdict or not is not the issue here. We should address the issues raised in that document. Were they the right decisions? We might decide to allow status quo reign just to abate the NFF crisis but we should not demonize a man who has done justice to an assignment. Politics, sentiments and interests apart, we should admit that Ajunwa has done his career no harm. Every lawyer should be proud of him.
Nwankpa, a journalist and author of the book ‘From Atlanta with Football Made in Nigeria’ lives in Abuja.
