NFF Congress: Vote of confidence in Ibrahim Gusau’s leadership sparks debate
By Uzor Odigbo
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Athletics and Other Sports Commission, an NGO that advocates for accountability and transparency in sports, Hon. Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe, has weighed in on the recently concluded Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Congress, where stakeholders passed a vote of confidence in the leadership.
Gombe, a sports entrepreneur and former Chairman of Gombe United Football Club and the Gombe State Football Association, said the vote of confidence passed on NFF President Ibrahim Gusau and his team at the Congress in Yenagoa was not unexpected. “It is their right to do so,” he stated in a release issued in Abuja on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
“I refrained in recent times from talking about the management of sports or Nigerian football generally,” Gombe said.
“First and foremost, let me talk about the vote of confidence passed on the NFF leadership. It is their right and normal to pass a vote of confidence. It has a precedent; it is not a new thing. To think that the vote of confidence passed on the Gusau-led NFF is the first one — no, it is not.
“Any offence the Gusau-led NFF is said to have committed is 10 times less than what former NFF President Amaju Pinnick committed. A vote of confidence was also passed on the Amaju-led NFF. Why should people complain now? There was precedence. Every single thing the Gusau-led NFF has done badly, the worst happened during Amaju Pinnick’s tenure, and a vote of confidence was passed.”
Gombe recalled that Amaju Pinnick allegedly spent eight years “destroying Nigerian football and mismanaging our money.” He noted that the man currently leading the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, served as Pinnick’s vice president during that period.
“Would there be any reform in Nigerian football with Shehu Dikko in charge?” he asked. “Those saying the current NFF leadership should go so they can bring in another set of leaders — I ask, where would they go to bring another set of NFF leadership to replace Gusau? If Amaju can do eight years, Gusau also must finish his eight years.
“All we are doing now is recycling hypocrisy. People talking today — where were they when Amaju Pinnick was there? Gusau is also a Nigerian.”
Gombe described himself as a non-sentimental person. “I don’t discuss the region you come from or who you are; let the truth be told,” he said.
“I have heard some ex-players like Mikel Obi talking nonsense about reforms in the NFF. Why were they silent for the eight years Amaju Pinnick was in office? Mikel Obi was a beneficiary of our football. The Mikel Obi that is talking today — what happened to Vincent Enyeama, one of our best goalkeepers and the most capped player? Mikel Obi was there and he hypocritically kept quiet. Is it now that his eyes are open that we need reforms in Nigerian football or regime change?
“My friend Harrison Jallah, who is now writing, I warned him. When Shehu Dikko came into office, they were arranging to visit him. I was invited but I refused to go. More than 60 solidarity visits were arranged by various stakeholders and organisations. Where are they today? What has changed?
“They were doing this because President Ahmed Bola Tinubu watches television, unlike the late President Buhari. They were running sports in the media. The President saw it and told them, ‘I have seen it; you earned it, you deserved it.’ But the President didn’t understand that corruption, arranged visits and decay in Nigerian sports go beyond newspaper and television accolades and solidarity visits.
“When Harrison Jallah told me of a visit to Shehu Dikko, I told him point blank that I would not visit them and that nothing would change. Jallah said we should give them a chance, that they would bring reform to the Nigerian Football Federation and the sector. I told Jallah again that it would not happen.
“I am surprised that Jallah suddenly started attacking the NFF instead of attacking those who promised him reform. Besides, it is not only Nigerian football that needs reform. Even the National Sports Commission needs reform. Look at what is happening in basketball, athletics federation, etc. It runs in a circle.
“Amaju Pinnick-led NFF committed more offences than the Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF. Did Amaju Pinnick qualify Nigeria for the World Cup? No. Was money not mismanaged under Amaju Pinnick? What happened? Nothing.
“Ibrahim Gusau is trying to manage the little he has to run the NFF. We had more money during Amaju Pinnick’s tenure in the NFF than today. Amaju contested for CAF elections based on an NFF vote of confidence, even with all his bad records. His inordinate ambition made him secure only one vote. At a point, Amaju boasted that he does not need Nigeria; it is Nigeria that needs him in FIFA. So where is he now?
“These mishaps will continue to happen in the NFF until an investigation is carried out starting from Aminu Maigari’s tenure. Else, we are going nowhere.”
Gombe noted that many of the players talking today once visited President Tinubu soon after he secured the APC presidential ticket in 2023. Nwankwo Kanu, Waheed Akanni, Pastor Taribo West, JJ Okocha and others went before Tinubu but could not present any paper on the way forward for Nigerian football.
“Today, they want regime change, claiming they own the game. Says who? They didn’t go with an agenda to meet the President. Now they want to talk. It was obvious they went for their personal interest,” he said.
“No country plans to go to the FIFA World Cup in two years. It is a transition, a programme driven by process and backed by genuine activities. I have been speaking about the rot in Nigerian football for over 25 years and no one listens to me.
“The NFF Congress has the right to pass a vote of confidence on its leadership and I saw it coming. I hate this selective attack. Nigerian football got this bad when Amaju Pinnick and Shehu Dikko led the NFF for eight years. Reform must begin from the top. The NSC must initiate it by putting its board together to manage the National Sports Commission and account for taxpayers’ money in the last five years.”
