The president, general secretary and executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have all resigned, leaving a leadership vacuum at the top of the sport in the country.
Outgoing president Ibrahim Gusau – whose tenure was set to expire in 34 days – confirmed he was stepping down during a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, saying he had come to the decision “after consultation with family, friends and stakeholders”.
Elected in September 2022, he had faced mounting scrutiny over the performance of Nigeria’s national teams and youth sides but was expected to stand for re-election.
Nigeria’s men have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, but pressure on the NFF hierarchy intensified in recent weeks after the Super Falcons missed out on a place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup, bringing to an end the country’s perfect attendance record at those finals since its inception in 1991.
The team went into the recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) as defending champions but were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Cameroon before losing a World Cup play-off against South Africa.
“Going forward, I know the future of Nigerian football will be great,” Gusau said.
“I hope we will continue to give our contribution, because our experience and the connections and relationship we have within African football, we’ll never allow it to go to vain.”
While the Super Eagles finished runners-up at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations under Gusau’s administration, missing back-to-back World Cups represents an unprecedented decline for one of Africa’s traditional football powerhouses.
Nigeria has similarly struggled to make a significant impact in continental and global competitions at age-grade level.
The NFF has now convened an emergency congress in Abuja to determine its next steps following the resignations of Gusau, general secretary Mohammed Sanusi and the 11 other members of the executive committee.
Governance and financial concerns.
Beyond results on the pitch, the NFF has faced questions over governance and financial management.
Particular attention has focused on a 17bn naira ($12.66m, £9.31m) intervention fund reportedly approved by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in 2024 to settle outstanding payments and obligations owed to the country’s national teams.
While no formal findings have been announced, sources familiar with ongoing reviews describe the process as an examination of financial documentation and administrative procedures.
Meanwhile, a fact-finding committee set up by the NFF after Nigeria’s Wafcon 2026 exit highlighted a number of issues at board level and in the organisation of national teams.
Its report included allegations that NFF board members influence team selection and that officials and even coaches base call-ups for players on financial gain as opposed to performance.
Discussions at the upcoming emergency congress are expected to focus on the status of the executive committee and compliance with statutes of the NFF, the Confederation of African Football, and world governing body Fifa.
The current uncertainty casts doubt over NFF elections scheduled for September. The possibility of a Fifa-backed normalisation committee to oversee the transition and prepare for fresh elections has been mooted.
Calls for sweeping reforms have grown louder in recent months.
Former Nigeria internationals including John Obi Mikel, Jay-Jay Okocha and Segun Odegbami have publicly argued that meaningful progress will require a complete break from the cycle of familiar administrators who have overseen years of underperformance.
And while the resignations create uncertainty, some stakeholders believe the crisis could also present an opportunity for long-awaited structural reforms and a cultural reset.
The upheaval comes against the backdrop of wider discussions over governance and accountability within global football, with Fifa boss Gianni Infantino at the heart of the debate.
For Nigeria, however, the question is whether confidence can be restored in the NFF as it grapples with both sporting disappointments and off-field challenges.
credit: BBC
