One of the contestants to the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation to represent the South-East zone Barrister Leonard Igbokwe has threatened to open woulds wound if the world soccer governing body, FIFA, does not act fast to address the complaint he made in a petition he sent to it.
One of the demands of Barrister Igbokwe is that FIFA should create an Arbitration Tribunal to look into his grievances. His prayer was that the NFF should disqualify Anyansi on the ground that two candidates (Anyansi and Emeka Iyama) cannot emerge from the same South-east zone.
In his petition to FIFA titled: re-creation of Arbitration Tribunal in the Nigeria Football Federation, Igbokwe wrote:
“Please accept my warm sporting regards.
“It is with deep constraints that I write again to you this year on the lingering crisis bedeviling the Nigeria Football Federation.
“Consequent upon your letter to me and which you copied the NFF where you declined jurisdiction in meddling with the internal workings of the NFF as well as advice without prejudice to your opinion that we should explore internal mechanism available in our system to resolve the logjam in the 30th of September, 2014 elections. I without hesitation adhered strictly to this advice and within the ambit of the NFF statutes of 2010 did formally request using the provisions of Articles 68 and 69 for the creation of an Arbitration Tribunal to resolve our grievances.
“I know as a matter of fact that two other aggrieved persons also requested for the creation of this Tribunal. It is important to state here that this is not the first time that aggrieved members of the NFF would have to resort to the creation of Arbitration Tribunal, which was granted and used to determine and solve this kind of issues in the past and peace restored.
“I was utterly shocked when it was announced that the Amaju Pinnick’s Board rejected our request for the setting up of an Arbitration Tribunal, which is properly provided in articles 68 and 69 of the NFF statutes, 2010. The NFF Arbitration Tribunal was used to settle football election matters between 2010 and 2011…
“So, I do not understand why the Amaju Pinnick’s Board refused to set up the Arbitration Tribunal which is a statutory and mandatory provision under our football statutes. The NFF Board does not have the authority or right to refuse to set up the Arbitration Tribunal as it is statutory and has been used in the above listed football election matters.
“I request FIFA to now intervene into this matter and direct the NFF to set up an Arbitration Tribunal to immediately look into our just petitions into the conduct and processes of the September 30th, 2014 election of the NFF. If FIFA does not wade in now to call Amaju Pinnick and his Board to order, I will be left with no alternative than to seek for help elsewhere.” [myad]
