THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has suspended the electoral process for its September 27 elective congress.
It has also appointed former Deputy General Secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme to oversee the federation’s secretariat following the resignation of its president, Ibrahim Gusau; General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi; and members of the Executive Committee.
The NFF announced the development in a statement published on its official website on Thursday, August 27, saying the National Sports Commission (NSC) had endorsed Ikpeme as interim General Secretary.
Ademola Olajire, the federation’s former Director of Media and Communications, was also appointed interim Deputy General Secretary.
The development followed the resignation of Gusau and Sanusi and the reported departure of several members of the NFF Executive Committee amid mounting concerns over the administration and performance of Nigerian football.
According to the NFF, all processes initiated in preparation for the elective congress scheduled for September 27 have now been suspended.
It said a fresh electoral process would commence after the completion of what it described as “anticipated comprehensive reforms” to be undertaken in consultation with FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Tinubu orders comprehensive football reforms
The latest development came hours after President Bola Tinubu directed a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football, citing repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental and global competitions.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said the reform should address governance, administration, stakeholder representation, player-development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability in Nigerian football.
The president also directed the Chairman of the National Sports Commission to work with the NFF Secretariat and relevant stakeholders to maintain continuity in football administration while facilitating a broad consultation on the proposed reforms.
Leagues placed under NFF staff
As part of the interim measures, the NFF said chairmen, appointed directors and chief executive officers of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Nigeria National League (NNL), Nigeria Women Football League and Nationwide League One had been directed to hand over the administration of their respective leagues to their chief operating officers.
Where the existing chief operating officer is not an NFF staff member, the interim General Secretary will deploy a new COO from within the federation, the NFF said.
The measures, according to the federation, are intended to preserve continuity while a roadmap for the proposed reforms is developed.
Gusau resigns amid football crisis
The ICIR reports that Gusau’s resignation came after growing criticism of the NFF over the performances of Nigeria’s senior national teams and the administration of the federation.
Gusau, who was elected NFF president at the federation’s 78th Elective Congress in September 2022, announced his resignation at a press conference at the NFF headquarters, known as the Glass House, in Abuja, on Thursday.
He said he had consulted his family, friends and football stakeholders before deciding to step aside.
Sanusi, who served as the federation’s General Secretary, also announced his resignation on Thursday, further deepening uncertainty over the NFF’s leadership.
World Cup failures put pressure on Board members
The leadership crisis followed a difficult period for Nigerian football, particularly the failure of the Super Falcons and Super Eagles to qualify for their respective FIFA World Cup competitions.
The Super Falcons were eliminated from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Cameroon on August 9.
The defeat meant Nigeria could not secure one of the four automatic qualification places for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup allocated to the WAFCON semi-finalists.
Nigeria subsequently lost 2-1 to South Africa in the qualification play-off on August 13, ending its hopes of qualifying for the tournament.
The failure ended the Super Falcons’ record of appearing at every edition of the Women’s World Cup since the tournament began in 1991.
The NFF subsequently sacked head coach Justin Madugu and his technical crew and constituted a six-member fact-finding committee to investigate the team’s failure.
The Super Eagles had also failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after finishing second in their qualifying group and subsequently losing to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the African play-off final on penalties.
Probe over N17bn intervention fund
The crisis has also unfolded against the backdrop of reported scrutiny of funds provided for Nigeria’s national teams.
Reports indicate that the State Security Service (SSS) had begun to probe the utilisation of a N17 billion intervention fund approved by Tinubu in 2024 to address outstanding wages, bonuses and other financial obligations involving national team players.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M