Says NFA can’t sack Owumi

By Philip ADEFIOYE
As debate on the  purported sack of Davidson Owumi as Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League rages, the National Association of Nigerian Footballers, NANF has said that the Alhaji Aminu Maigari-led NFA Board has no right to annul the election of the NPL.

President of NANF, Harrison Jalla in a statement at the weekend in Lagos said that the NFA Board which faces legality problems itself did not elect Owumi and therefore cannot remove him, stressing that “Alhaji Aminu Maigari’s Board legality is currently being challenged at the federal high court in Lagos in suit FHC/L/CS/1408/10 before Honourable Justice Okeke J in a matter field by one Mr Jiti Ogunye Legal Practitioner on the 24th of November,2010.”

The NANF boss stated “that the NPL election dispute is also part of the issues before Honourable Justice Okeke,” adding that “until these issues are determined and the order nullifying the Election was set aside by a superior Court, the Maigari led board remains illegal.”

According to Jalla, the so-called pronouncement made in Uyo by the NFA nullifying Owumi’s election, should therefore be disregarded as Owumi was dully elected chairman of the Nigeria Premier League and remains so and would function until the court rules otherwise.

Maigari and Owumi

“As far as we are concerned in National Association of Nigeria Footballers that is just a mere statement because the NFA has no power to do that. The AGM didn’t elect Davison Owumi, the congress of the clubs elected him, and if they don’t need him there are provisions in their status which the congress can invoke to impeach him.”

“The NFA board led by Aminu Maigari is an illegal body, there is a litigation on the legality of that body as we speak and the dispute of the NPL, the matter is with justice Okeke in the Federal High Court of Lagos.

I don’t really know what is the business of the NFA, they are supposed to concentrate on their own job, they have no business whatsoever with the League. As far as we are concerned FIFA has stated it ambiguously that the football federation should not interfere in the affairs of their constituent bodies.

It means the league, the players associations, the coaches, the referees are constituent bodies of the NFA which have their own rules, their status and they do their elections and run their things independent of  the FA.”

Condemning the annulment of the NPL election, Jalla pointed out that the setting up of the Ibidapo-Obe arbitration panel was an aberration as “FIFA rule says  that the Appeals Committee is the last adjudication process in electoral matters.

It is just crazy that they (NFA) took a decision that they cannot even enforce. As far as we are concerned Davison Owumi remains the NPL chairman  and he will remain so and we going to resist any attempt to get him out of the office by NFA with the last drop of our blood because Owumi is the first elected ex- international footballer to occupy a position of such magnitude in this country.

Jalla hinted that the NFA’s action would be an opportunity for the court to clarify the issue of the annulment of the election that brought Maigari to office since there is a fresh case by Jiti Ogunye seeking to enforce the Justice Abang Okon’s order that annulled the 26th August election.

“This is an opportunity to tell the court now that the NFA has not been following the rule of  law. The matter in court by Jiti Ogunye is a fresh matter that is seeking to enforce Justice Abang Okon’s order of August 26th election which was annulled.

NFA is operating illegally and since there is a complaint before the court, the court will do the needful by getting them out of office and make them to face the normal contempt charge. They are just trying to mess up themselves completely. As far as we are concerned, NFA has no board as we speak pending fresh elections.

All the pronouncements in Uyo at the end of the day, will be pronounced null and void by the court,” Jalla affirmed.