NFF Crisis: Tinubu orders comprehensive reform of Nigerian Football

President Bola Tinubu has mandated a "comprehensive reform" of Nigerian football in response to the repeated failures of the national teams to secure qualifications for major international tournaments. The directive was issued on Thursday, shortly after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, along with the General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and other executives, resigned under pressure over the state of Nigerian football.

The NFF announced the mass resignations in a statement, stating that Gusau's decision aimed to facilitate a "comprehensive and orderly reform process" to tackle the persistent issues plaguing the sport.

Bayo Onanuga, the President's Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, disclosed the presidential directive, explaining that Tinubu's order was aimed at enabling Nigeria to overcome its recurring inability to qualify for regional, continental, and global competitions. The President attributed the ongoing decline in Nigerian football's performance to what he termed "structural weaknesses" within the system, highlighting that other sports have experienced progress following the restructuring of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC).

Tinubu emphasized that the reform must address critical areas such as governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions, and accountability within Nigerian football. He noted that the sport, Nigeria's most popular game and the primary beneficiary of public support, investment, and national attention, has struggled primarily due to structural deficiencies within the system.