NFF AGA on hold after court notice

The planned NFF Annual General Meeting (AGA) will now have to be suspended after a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, ordered that the football federation be notified of the hearings.

The AGM scheduled for Monday in Yenagoa will deliberate on the NFF elections in September.

According The punchThe plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/YNG/CS/70/2026 are a former Super Eagles player, Awala Jumbo, and a lawyer, Tekena Ediyekio.

Justice Ayo Emmanuel issued the order on Wednesday when the matter arose.

The parties were absent from Wednesday’s trial. However, counsel for the plaintiffs/applicants, Rumson Baribote, who appeared in court, informed the judge that the plaintiffs had filed an ex parte application dated March 13, 2026.

He requested permission from the court to file the application.

“My Lord, we have an ex parte application dated March 13, 2026, and we seek permission from this honorable court to file the same,” Baribote said.

However, the court rejected the request.

In a brief ruling, Judge Emmanuel held that the application would not be accepted and ordered that the defendants be put on notice.

“Having refused to hear the ex parte complaint, it is ordered that the defendants be notified,” the judge ruled.

The court subsequently adjourned the matter to March 31, 2026 for hearing.

In a source summons filed with the court, the plaintiffs pray the court to annul the September 30, 2022 elections of the Nigerian Football Federation and restrain its current leadership from continuing to administer Nigerian football.

The plaintiffs ask the court to determine whether the board of directors led by Ibrahim Gusau can continue to present itself as the validly elected leadership of the NFF in light of a Court of Appeal ruling handed down on January 19, 2024.

They specifically urged the court to resolve, among other issues, whether:

The plaintiffs also asked the court to decide whether it can enforce the appeals court’s decision under Article 287 of the 1999 Constitution by preventing the defendants from acting as beneficiaries of the disputed election.

Furthermore, they questioned whether the NFF leadership’s continued tenure, including plans to convene a congress on March 23, 2026, amounts to contempt of court.

Following resolution of the issues, plaintiffs seek various remedies from the court, including:

“A declaration” that the court has the power to enforce the Court of Appeals ruling by barring defendants from standing as elected officials;

“An order that annuls and/or sets aside” the entire electoral process that produced the current leadership of the NFF;

“An order directing the establishment of an interim board” with equal representation in all federated units of Nigeria.

Additionally, they urged the court to grant “such additional orders as it deems appropriate in the circumstances.”

In a supporting affidavit, Tekena Ediyekio stated that the suit was filed with full knowledge of the facts and with the consent of the co-plaintiff, whom he described as a former Super Eagles player actively involved in football.

He told the court that an existing order of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued on September 15, 2022 ordered parties to maintain the status quo and restricted the holding of elections in the NFF.

According to him, although the respondents appealed the order and obtained a temporary stay, the Court of Appeal subsequently dismissed the appeal on January 19, 2024.

“The Court of Appeal’s decision terminated the temporary suspension and restored the full force of order to the status quo,” he declared.

Ediyekio argued that the implication is clear: “There is no valid legal basis on which the defendants can claim that the status quo order was ever legally displaced.”

It further argued that the September 30, 2022 election was held “in willful violation of an existing court order” and is therefore “null and void ab initio.”

The deponent accused the NFF leadership of continuing to act without legal authority despite the appeals court ruling.

“They have continued to present themselves as legally elected leaders who collaborated with FIFA and CAF, organized congresses and made appointments without any legal mandate,” he said.

He added that the NFF Congress scheduled for March 23, 2026 in Yenagoa further demonstrates what he described as “continued contempt of court.”

Ediyekio warned that the situation has created instability in the administration of football in Nigeria.

“The continued state of governance uncertainty…has caused and continues to cause irreparable damage to the development of football in Nigeria,” he said.

He added that the actions of the defendants undermine “the rule of law, good government and the supremacy of the Constitution.”

The dispute dates back to a suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Inyang Ekwo, on September 15, 2022, ordered the parties to maintain the status quo and restricted the holding of the NFF elections pending determination of the case.

The order came following an ex parte application filed by interested parties including Harrison Jalla, boss Victor Baribote, Austin Popo and the Nigerian National Footballers Association.

Despite the order, the plaintiffs in the present lawsuit maintain that the NFF proceeded with the election and continued to operate in violation of existing judicial directives.