Sports minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung has added a voice of support to the return of Ambassador Chris Giwa and his group to the helm of affairs at Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), as he believes it is an end to illegality at The Glasshouse.
Speaking before embarking on a trip to watch the female youth national team, Falconets play Haiti in their second match at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, Dalung said it was unacceptable that Department of State Security (DSS) operatives were used to propel the opposing NFF executive committee led by Amaju Pinnick back to office last week.
Dalung had stated all along since last month, when two dozen DSS operatives stormed the NFF secretariat on “orders from above,” that the officers illegally backed the return of Pinnick and Sanusi Mohammed as general-secretary despite a court ruling to the contrary.
Dalung insisted that the DSS could not have occupied the NFF on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari, and described the invasion of the NFF as “impunity overstretched.”
However, following the sack of Lawal Musa Daura as DSS director-general, the operatives drove out of The Glasshouse on Wednesday, without a word.
This came two days after Dalung assured that the DSS will vacate The Glasshouse this week, ‘to enable the right person legally recognized by law take charge of the activities of the federation.’
The minister also stated that he strongly believed that the six-man elders’ reconciliation committee led by former NFA chairman, Abdulmuminu Aminu will find a lasting solution to the crisis.
Dalung said: “This administration is a government based on the rule of law and I will not allow any person who has no respect for Supreme Court judgement to turn my parastatal under my watch.
“The invasion of the NFF by the DSS was unacceptable and security stretched too far. But I am happy that normalcy has returned to The Glasshouse for now.”
