World football governing body, FIFA has reinstated President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari with immediate effect, declaring his impeachment on July 24 null and void. FIFA also directed that the planned August 26 elections must hold on the said date, with Maigari and his team supervising.

FIFA in a correspondence titled “Situation of the Nigeria Football Federation”, signed by its Deputy Secretary-General Markus Kattner, and addressed to NFF Secretary-General Musa Amadu ruled that Maigari’s impeachment by some members of the NFF Executive Committee did not follow due process and was not ratified by the NFF Congress.

FIFA wrote: “We take note of your explanation with regards to the meeting of the NFF held on 24 July and it would appear that the said meeting didn’t comply with some statutory provisions (e.g. deadline for the convocation of the meeting and for the sending of the Agenda). In addition, in a correspondence addressed to FIFA, Mr. Maigari denied the course of events and complained that he had even not been given the possibility to answer the allegations against him.

“We have also been informed that members of the NFF Executive committee decided to sanction two other Executive Committee members for six months and one year. By so doing, it seems the said meeting of the Executive Committee went beyond the prerogative which is limited to suspend provisionally, persons or organs, until the following Congress, during which the sanctions are confirmed or lifted. Finally, we also learnt that some members of the electoral committee and electoral appeal committee duly elected by the Congress in November 2013, were removed from their position by the Executive Committee, which is contrary to the segregation of powers.

“The recent decisions of the Executive Committee are highly questionable with regard to the compliance with the statutes and should anyway be confirmed by the Congress. In the meantime, the different sanctions and suspensions are preventing persons to contest the elections.

“Under these circumstances, we deem that the NFF Congress will exercise its sovereign power through the electoral process, which shall be open to everybody and managed by the electoral committee elected by the Congress in their entirety. The Executive Committee of the NFF shall also be reunified as it was before the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Taking into account the internal divisions in the Executive Committee, it is advisable that major decisions are frozen until the elections of 26 August and that the focus will now be on the program of the candidates and the development of Nigerian football.”

News Express reports this is the second time in about a month that FIFA would be intervening to reinstate Maigari. The world soccer governing body had on July 9 suspended Nigeria from all international football due to government interference in the country’s football federation after the Maigari-led board was sacked and replaced by a sole administrator after a suspicious court judgement.

Maigari was reinstated to prevent a full ban, only for him to be impeached shortly thereafter and replaced with Vice President Mike Umeh.

•Photo shows NFF President Aminu Maigari.

Update news