NFF Elections: Stakeholders Divided Over Calls For Suspension After Nigeria’s World Cup Setbacks

Nigeria’s football stakeholders remain divided over calls to suspend the 2026 Nigeria Football Federation’s elections, with former internationals and administrators split over whether the country’s latest failures demand an immediate change in football governance.

The debate intensified after the Super Falcons and Flying Eagles suffered setbacks that ended their respective routes to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2027 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

Former Dream Team star Abiodun Obafemi, who was part of Nigeria’s gold medal-winning squad at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said the recent results highlighted the difference between the current state of Nigerian football and the unity that existed during his playing days.

“We were celebrating the anniversary of our Olympic triumph just a few days ago, and now we find ourselves facing a World Cup miss for the first time, with the Falcons and the young Flying Eagles both missing out,” Obafemi said.

“In our days, we came into camp with hunger, and our relationship with the administration and our coaches was open and sincere. Today, it appears to be a different story entirely.”

Naija News reports that the Super Falcons were eliminated by Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Sunday. The defeat ended Nigeria’s hopes of automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while the Flying Eagles lost 4-1 to Burkina Faso in the final of the WAFU Zone B Under-20 Championship.

That result also ended Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the 2027 Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations and the 2027 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan.

The back-to-back setbacks have strengthened calls by former Super Eagles captain Segun Odegbami for the suspension of the NFF’s 2026 Executive Committee elections, scheduled for September 27 in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

Odegbami has criticised the administration of Nigerian football, arguing that the country’s football structure has failed to maximise its considerable talent. He described NFF elections as “a four-yearly ritual of crisis” and appealed to President Bola Tinubu and other Nigerians to halt the electoral process.

Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Sports Facility, Ebi Egbe, has backed Odegbami’s call, questioning whether the current electoral structure can produce genuine reform.

Under the existing arrangement, 37 of the 44 Congress delegates are state Football Association chairmen. Egbe believes that gives incumbents a significant advantage over candidates seeking to change the system.

“It will be very difficult for genuine reformers to even consider buying nomination forms for the current NFF elections when the electoral structure appears to give the 37 State Football Association members such enormous influence over the outcome,” Egbe said via Punch.

“For me, the real issue is not about who buys a form or who eventually wins. It is about whether the process gives every credible candidate a genuine and equal opportunity to compete.”

However, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Athletics and Other Sports Development Commission, has rejected the call to suspend the elections.

Gara-Gombe accused Odegbami of allowing personal interests to influence his position and questioned his record in previous football and sports-related roles.

“I disagree with many things he said in that video,” Gara-Gombe said according to Punch.

“If you want to talk about issues in Nigerian sports or anything affecting our country, forget fronting or saturating people with your profile. We know who you are.”

He also challenged Odegbami to explain controversies surrounding the Shell Cup and the Nigeria Academicals Sports Committee, which the former international chaired. Gara-Gombe alleged that Odegbami had “no moral right to talk about corruption or accountability.”

Gara-Gombe further disputed Odegbami’s previous claim that an unsuccessful attempt to secure an NFF position was linked to flaws in the electoral process. He argued that Odegbami failed to secure the required endorsement from Football Associations in the South-West zone.

Despite opposing an immediate suspension of the election, Gara-Gombe agreed that the NFF electoral system requires reform. He said such changes should come through the National Assembly rather than the courts.

“We need electoral reforms, not only in Nigerian football. Electoral reform is required in everything that we do,” he said.

“The issue of the composition of Nigerian Football Association Congress has to do with the National Assembly. Let the National Assembly go there and take up that challenge.”

Gara-Gombe also called on the National Sports Commission, led by Chairman Shehu Dikko and Director-General Bukola Olopade, to clarify its position on the dispute.

“The National Sports Commission must come out and state their position,” he said. “Their silence shows that they are behind it, and we are going to take them on it.”