NFF Elections: Anxiety as Pinnick, Giwa await Supreme Court judgment

Stakeholders within the football fraternity are anxious to know who wins the legal battle between the factions laying claim to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) leadership as the Supreme Court gets set to deliver judgment on Thursday.

One of the factions and plaintiff in the case, Chris Giwa is challenging the decision of Justice Joseph Tur of the Court of Appeal in Jos for recognising the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board.

The judge upturned an October 30, 2014 Jos High Court ruling in Giwa’s favour.

Giwa wants the Apex Court to set aside the judgment and recognise him as the duly elected NFF President, a mandate he claims was given to him by the elective congress on August 26, 2014 in Abuja.

He is also insisting that the election which brought in Pinnick on September 30, 2014 was in defiance of a High Court order.

Thursday’s ruling will put an end to the power tussle which has dragged for more than four years, despite repeated warnings from football governing body, FIFA to ban Nigeria.

The football governing body frowns at matters involving the game being adjudicated in the ordinary court.

It would be recalled that in 2017 FIFA extended the five-year ban on Giwa from all football related matters globally in line with article 136ff of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

Meanwhile Pinnick remains confident of victory, claiming that he has not violated the electoral statutes.