A Federal High Court sitting in Jos has sacked the Amaju Pinnick-led board of the federation.
Report from the Plateau State capital indicated that the presiding judge, Justice Musa Haruna Kurya, had granted the prayers of the plaintiffs, Yahaya Adama and Senator Obinna Ogba, to not only relist the suit in the tussle of the leadership of the football body, but also sustained all the previous orders of the court, which effectively made Ambassador Chris Giwa NFF president, pending the final determination of the case before the court.
Justice Kurya upheld the prayers of the plaintiffs, who had sought re-listing of the suit, thereby bringing all the previous orders of that court back to the front burner.
In granting the plaintiffs’ prayer, the judge re-listed the case for hearing on May 30, 2016.
Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Jos, had set aside the proceedings and depictions taken at the Warri General Assembly of the NFF held on September 20, 2014 and the subsequent elective congress of September 30, 2014 from where the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board emerged.
Allagoa had hinged his decision on the fact that the general assembly and the elective congress were direct contraventions of the orders granted by the court on September 19, 2014.
In a swift reaction to Friday’s decision by the Federal High Court, Jos, three members of the Chris Giwa faction, Johnson Effiong, Rumson Victor Baribote and Alhaji Femas stormed the Glass House secretariat of the NFF in Abuja to give effect to the court’s decision.
Speaking with sports journalists at the secretariat, Effiong informed that the Giwa-led board would take over the Glass House on Monday, April 11, 2016.
“We are happy with the pronouncement and we are here to take over the proceeding of events. The board is expected to meet this (yesterday) night and by the special grace of God, we would resume fully on Monday,” he said.
Effiong also announced the immediate removal of the NFF Assistant Director (Communications), Ademola Olajire and replaced him with Robison Okosun.
Meanwhile, the Pinnick-led NFF on Friday swiftly moved to file an appeal, a motion to vacate the order and a motion for a stay-of-execution against the judgment of the Jos court.
According to a statement made available in Abuja by Olajire, since an appeal, a motion to vacate the order and a stay-of-execution had been filed, on the same day as the Jos judgment, the status quo remains.
“This is a sad one primarily because we have enjoyed a period of peace and have been able to work without the court-today-court-tomorrow situation of the last half of 2014.
“We have filed for stay-of-execution and that means the status quo remains and anything done is done at the actors’ peril. I can assure football-loving Nigerians that there is no reason to panic as we are in full charge and there is no trouble whatsoever. There is no order for the Giwa group to take over the Glass House. In fact, many of his so-called board members have called to dissociate themselves from the matter,” NFF’s first vice-president, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, was quoted by Olajire to have said.
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