Nigerian Football
KATSINA IS THE FIFTH HOST CITY OF NFF ELECTIVE CONGRESS
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
When the elective congress of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) holds in Katsina on Thursday, the city becomes the fifth to host the election meeting of Nigerian football administrators.
Previous ones have taken place in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Warri. The very first of such was in Lagos, at house 42, Broad Street when the NFF was founded as Nigeria Football Association (NFA) on August 21, 1933.
At that meeting of 30 football enthusiasts from Lagos and one from Abeokuta attended and elected the first principal officers that administered football in Nigeria.
Henry A. Porter, a senior architect with the then Public Works Department became the founding President. Three others were elected as Vice Presidents.
They were Dr. Isaac Ladipo Oluwole, Adeyemo Alakija and Frederick Baron Mulford. Joseph Mead was elected the Secretary.
The Sunday Times of October 4, 1953 listed some of the delegates at the inaugural congress as Rev. J.K. Macgregor, Evan Jones, Messrs Harry Benne DL Kerr and J.W. Hallam.
At the next congress the following year, the officers were returned. The annual general meeting s continued in Lagos till that of March 26, 1961 which was the last election before government took over the running of the football body and was responsible for the appointment of board members till August 1993 when quasi election was introduced as per Decree 101 of 1992.
The last election to be held in Lagos was in 1996. It produced Col. Abdulmumini Aminu (rtd).
Thereafter the elective meetings shifted to Abuja with the first being that of October 19, 1999 at Radio House offices of Federal Radio Corporation.
It produced Kodjo Williams as the chairman. Also on November 29, 2002, another elective meeting in Abuja produced Ibrahim Galadima as the sole candidate for the chairmanship following last minute stepping down of previously intending contenders – John Fashanu, Dogo Yablsu, Chive Kaave and Sabo Jumba.
In December 29, 2005, the elective congress controversially moved to Kano and Ibrahim Galadima was returned to office. But the election could not stand.
After series of crisis and trouble-shooting, a fresh election was held in Abuja on August 29, 2006 producing the Director of Sports in the FCT, Sani Lulu Abdulahi as the chairman.
Two years later at the annual general meeting in Makurdi, the name of the football governing body changed from NFA to NFF and the position of chairman changed to president.
Abuja again in 2010 held another elective congress that produced Aminu Maigari as the president. Another elective congress held in August 2014 was invalidated before a fresh one took place in Warri.
Now the train moves to Katsina.
VENUES OF PREVIOUS ELECTIONS INTO NFA/NFF
- LAGOS: 1933 -1961, 1993, 1996
- ABUJA: 1999, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014(?)
- KANO: 2005
- WARRI: 2014
- KATSINA: 2018