Senator Obinna Ogba, Chairman, Senate Committee on Youth and Sports , has dismissed pressure mounted on Amaju Pinnick, President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), to resign following Nigeria’s consecutive ouster from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Senator Ogba, a former board member of the football federation, said the call is misplaced especially if consideration is accorded the effort made by the current NFF leadership to ensure that Nigeria qualifies for the 2017 AFCON tournament.
He said the call would have been sustained had the federation ignored certain ingredients that would enhance the chances of the team, pointing out that from the vantage position he occupies, the leadership did what they ought to do, yet failed to qualify.
” I want to appeal to you journalists, because you people can make or mar football in this country. You Journalists should support the football house for it to move forward. Some people are calling for Amaju’s resignation. I don’t know how; resign for what? For not qualifying? How many times have you asked the president to resign because of the fuel scarcity? He was elected to serve four years. It’s you people that said he was elected.
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He insisted that the board under Pinnick has done it’s best in the circumstance, deploying his contacts and personal resources at the disposal of the Federation to ensure success of the AFCON qualifiers.
According to the Ebonyi State FA chairman, the board supported the coach to get all the players it needed to prosecute the double header against Egypt.
Meanwhile the Senate Committee on Sports has summoned Solomon Dalung, minister of Sports, and the Nigeria football federation to chart the way forward in the wake of the embarrassing outing at the AFCON qualifiers among other issues.
Senator Ogba disclosed that the meeting slated for Tuesday next week is expected to also take a critical look at preparations for this year’s Rio Olympic Games.
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