After the Super Eagles exited the 2018 World Cup in Russia last night, the focus for Nigeria football in the next three months or so will now shift to the elections to the executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The lead-up to the polls promises to be full of intrigues, drama and a lot of horse trading.
The Russian city of Saint Petersburg, where Nigeria football stakeholders set up base during the World Cup, has thus hosted several meetings around these elections.
The polls are slated for September in Katsina with the incumbent executives hoping to be returned en bloc.
Their argument is for continuity, for them to build on what they have achieved in the past four years.
NFF president Amaju Pinnick, for one, has brandished his connections at FIFA and CAF as one of the reasons he should be considered for re-election. He has also spoken of an aggressive marketing drive that has fetched the federation several millions of dollars from sponsorship as well as improved welfare packages for the Super Eagles.
But his critics are also quick to put up allegations of lack of accountability and transparency against this administration amid various anti-graft petitions targeted at top NFF chieftains. Interestingly, his main political backers have been mainly from the country’s opposition party, the PDP. His main rivals are former NFF president Aminu Maigari and Osun State FA chairman Taiwo Ogunjobi.
Unconfirmed reports have now suggested that FC Ifeanyiubah owner and oil mogul Patrick Ubah may have also thrown his hat in the ring after he was initially “advised” to buy the nomination form for ‘Chairman of Chairmen’ by the powers that be.
But even before the contest, sports minister Solomon Dalung may hold the ace after he suggested that an independent interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling against the NFF by the Attorney General’s office will soon be made public. That could well be a huge twist to what promises to be another chaotic lead-up to electing those who will call the shots for the game in the country.