Abuja – The battle to get a seat for a Nigerian on the CAF Executive Committee should not end with Wednesday’s loss in Khartoum, Sudan, a football stakeholder has advised.

Hon. Lumumba Adeh, former Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.

Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, Nigeria’s candidate in the election for two of the four seats reserved for Africa on the FIFA Executive Committee had finished last in the poll.

He polled only five votes in the five-man race, held at the CAF 33rd Ordinary General Assembly with Algeria’s Mohamed Raouraoua and Cote d’Ivoire’s Jacques Anouma clinching the seats.

“It is rather unfortunate that Galadima and Nigeria lost the election. What a pity, and a shame!

“But Galadima has tried, and I believe the Nigerian delegation to the elections did what they should have done.

“We should try again when such an opportunity comes. Galadima should not give up. He should not see it as a personal loss, there is still another time,” Adeh said.

Adeh, who is the proprietor of JC Raiders Football Club of Jos, said Galadima had the pedigree to win another time.

“More than that, Nigeria is a big footballing nation that deserves to be on the FIFA Executive Committee,” he said.

The former NFA chairmanship aspirant, however, said any attempt to dwell on the loss would only be an exercise in futility.

“Nigerians should be aiming at developing the sport locally. Thinking about what went wrong in Sudan is like crying over a spilt milk, and I believe we should be looking at how to raise the level of our game.

“Being on the CAF or FIFA Executive Committee seat is only a boost to Nigerian football. It is only complimentary. What matters mostly is how to raise our game and further develop it,” he said.

The two FIFA Executive Committee seats became vacant, following the expiration of the four-year tenure of the two occupants, Dr Amos Adamu and Anouma.

Adamu had been ineligible to re-contest, following FIFA’s three-year ban slammed on him over corruption allegations last November.
(NAN)