Outgoing president of the Nigeria Football Federation Aminu Maigari was released on Wednesday along with board member Chris Green.
Maigari who spoke with The PUNCH briefly was only able to confirm that he had been released by the Department of State Security and the Nigeria Police but declined to make further comments on the telephone.
“Please, I can’t say anything now,” he said late on Wednesday. Continue...
It was learnt that no charges were pressed against both officials. Friends of Maigari said that they were merely arrested in Abuja to prevent them from attending the general assembly of the NFF which was billed for Tuesday. The general assembly, which the world governing body FIFA had directed that should be organised with Maigari presiding held under controversial circumstances with two factions claiming victory.
One of such gatherings in Abuja on Tuesday produced Chris Giwa of the Giwa football club as the new president of the NFF. Maigari was not at the venue just as the NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu who had arrived at venue with the sports minister Tammy Danagogo, reportedly left the scene before the election took place. His election, though, was determined as unacceptable by the state chairmen who disassociated themselves from the event and held a parallel non-elective congress as advised by FIFA in a letter last week. They have fixed the NFF election for September 4 in Abuja.
But despite the stance of the majority of the chairmen, it was learnt that Giwa moved into the NFF offices on Wednesday morning and addressed staff members. Giwa is seen as the preferred candidate of the sports ministry.
But despite the said election, the General Assembly unanimously agreed on September 4 as the date for its elective congress. It was learnt that as many as 40 of the 44 congress delegates took part in that decision-making to draw up fresh programmes leading to the elections into the NFF executive committee.
The congress also dissolved the electoral committee constituted by the general assembly at its meeting in Warri in November 2013. The electoral appeals committee was also dissolved.
Both sides are now eagerly awaiting a statement from FIFA on the events in Nigeria on Tuesday. FIFA had suspended Nigeria after a court ruling enabled the sports minister to sack the NFF board. It was lifted after the case was withdrawn from court. Maigari was later impeached which was also ruled unconstitutional by FIFA before they approved the Tuesday assembly to hold as a non-electing congress
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