President Bola Tinubu has ordered a “comprehensive reform” of Nigerian football following the country’s repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental and world tournaments.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, said the president’s decision was aimed at helping Nigeria “overcome repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental and world tournaments”.
Tinubu blamed “structural weaknesses within the system” for the continued struggles of Nigerian football, noting that other sports had recorded meaningful progress since the reset of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC).
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football,” Tinubu said.
“Football, Nigeria’s most popular sport and the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment and national attention, has continued to struggle basically due to structural deficits within the system.”
The president directed Shehu Dikko, NSC chairman, to work with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) secretariat to facilitate a broad and consultative reform process.
He also directed that the process include appropriate engagement with FIFA and CAF to safeguard Nigeria against sanctions arising from governmental interference in football administration.
The directive came hours after Ibrahim Gusau confirmed his resignation as NFF president, while Muhammad Sanusi also stepped down as the federation’s general secretary.
Under Gusau’s leadership, Nigeria’s senior men’s and women’s national teams failed to qualify for the World Cup.
The Super Falcons missed the women’s World Cup for the first time since the competition began in 1991, while the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup despite Africa receiving 10 qualification slots for the first time.
Nigeria’s age-grade teams also suffered setbacks, with the men’s U-17 and U-20 teams failing to qualify for their respective World Cups.
TheCable understands that the NFF leadership was pressured to resign following intervention by senior federal government officials, including officials at the NSC and the presidency.
Gusau was elected NFF president in 2022 and was due to complete his tenure next month, with an elective congress scheduled for September 27.
However, the fate of the congress remains uncertain amid reports that a normalisation committee could be established to oversee the federation’s affairs until further notice.
