*As 22 delegates claim to have re-elected Senator Ifeanyi Ubah
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has stated categorically that there has been no election into the executive committee of the Anambra State Football Association.
Chairman of Chairmen of Nigerian Football, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau minced no words in declaring that what took place in the state on Monday, 27th July 2020 and which some stakeholders styled ‘an election’ was a charade of very low grade, and the NFF would never recognise such a sham.
“That was an act of brigandage and the NFF fully dissociates itself from it. The Electoral Committee sent to the NFF a letter which they received from the Anambra State COVID-19 Task Force, requesting that the elections into the State FA and the local football councils be postponed, in line with the situation in the country, as the ban on sporting activities and mass gatherings was still alive.
“The same Electoral Committee issued a press statement on Monday, 27th July 2020 informing the general public that the elections would no longer hold, and regretted the inconvenience that the sudden postponement may have caused the candidates, delegates, observers, stakeholders and the general public.
“In view of these, it is incomprehensible how anyone could have gone ahead with the charade they are calling ‘election’, and you begin to wonder who actually conducted the so-called election,” Gusau said on Tuesday.
Gusau, who is also a Member of the NFF Executive Committee, stated further: “That was an affront on the Government and the NFF will never be part of it. The Anambra State COVID-19 Task Force made it clear that there should be no such gathering. It is irksome, and let it be said without ambiguity that the NFF does not recognize such a sham and it cannot stand.”
However, in what appears to be a total disregard to the directive of the Anambra State Covid-19 Task Force that no election should take place in view of the prevailing pandemic in the country, Chairman of the Anambra FA, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, was reported by a section of the sporting media to have been returned unopposed for another term in office.
Ubah was reported to have been re-elected by 22 delegates who snubbed the directive by the state government.
In his post election speech, the senator representing Anambra South in the upper legislature promised to revolutionise Anambra State Football by promoting massive grassroots development of the game.
“I promise to accelerate the development of football in Anambra State with a view to providing jobs for the teeming unemployed youths. We all know that football, if properly managed, could be the bedrock of the state’s economy. Going forward, it is going to be football revolution,” the owner of Ifeanyi Ubah FC said.
His assurance to harness talented Anambra youths and use football as source of employment, has also received a boost as the Grand Patron, Prince Arthur Eze, doled out N10 million donation in support of the new executive.
