Giwa assumes office, states priority
. His resumption illegal-Interim Committee
. Danagogo keeps mum
The nation’s football crisis deepened further yesterday with newly elected factional president of Ni­geria Football Federation (NFF), Chris Giwa, and the three-man Interim Committee set up by Aminu Maigari-backed group struggling for the control of the soccer fed­eration’s Abuja secretari­at, the Glass House.
After Tuesday’s paral­lel congresses that saw the emergence of the two groups, the battle ground shifted to the Glass House yesterday.
It would be noted that Giwa was elected by the congress that took place at Chida Hotel, while another congress that took place on roadside in the Maitama area of Abuja resolved to set up a three-man interim committee that would take charge until the election it fixed for September 4 is conducted.
Giwa, who insisted that the election conducted on Tuesday night at Chida Hotel is valid, stormed the Glass House yesterday and told journalists that he was at the secretariat to resume duty as the new NFF’s president. He stated that his immediate priority was to move the NFF secretar­iat out of the Glass House to the newly constructed Sunday Dankaro House.
Giwa, who is the pro­prietor of Glo Premier League side, Giwa FC, started by leading a mara­thon prayer session in what could pass for “spiritual cleansing” of the Glass House.
While Giwa and his team were still at the secre­tariat, a member of the Interim Committee, Sir E.C Chukwuemeka, who is the chairman of Abia FA, stormed the Glass House and declared Giwa’s pres­ence illegal.
Chukwuemeka warned that those parading themselves as the new board members of the soccer federation only want Nigeria to incur the wrath of FIFA.
“I came to see what is hap­pening. What is happening here is illegality and they are indirectly inviting FIFA to ban Nigeria. We are not interested in FIFA banning Nigeria, but if anybody should attract that ban , nobody should blame us because we are standing on the path of the truth.
“The truth is that FIFA has said there should be no election on August 26. We have fixed election for Sept. 4. So, anybody who is saying that he is the president of NFF is oc­cupying the place illegally and we are not interested in using force because the law will take its cause,’’ Chukwuemeka said.
When Daily Sunsports got in touch with Mr. Patrick Omorodion, the Special Adviser, (Media) to the Sports Minister, Dr
Tammy Danagogo, he said his boss did not want to interfere with the situation after pleading with the warring factions to sheathe their swords during the congress of August 26.
“My boss pleaded with them at the congress to sheathe their swords in the interest of the country when he addressed the delegates. He is not sup­porting any of the warring factions and the truth is that he is not happy with the way they (NFF officials) are going about the whole crisis. They are not putting the nation’s interest first in spite of the efforts government has made to resolve the crisis,” Omordion stated.
It would be noted that there was a heavy pres­ence of security opera­tives at the Glass House yesterday. They were no doubt there to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order, given the crisis rocking the nation’s football.
 

NFF factions struggle for control of Glass House