By Daniel Etchells

The Nigeria Football Federation's Appeals Committee dismissed all the petitions against the conduct of the September 30 polls ©Getty Images The Nigeria Football Federation's (NFF) Appeals Committee, headed by barrister Okey Ajunwa, has upheld the polls that brought in the Amaju Pinnick-led Executive Committee of the Federation.

The Committee, which sat in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, dismissed all the petitions against the conduct of the polls, ruling the September 30 elections in Warri were conducted in accordance with the statutes of world football's governing body, FIFA, and the Confederation of African Football.

Four football stakeholders - Muazu Suleyman, Sani Ferma, Iyke Igbokwe and Shehu Dikko - had challenged the polls on the grounds that they violated many aspects and therefore should be annulled.

But, in its verdict signed by five of the six members of the panel, the Committee unanimously decided that various FIFA directives and Congressional decisions had taken care of all Suleyman and Igbokwe's allegations and threw out Ferma's argument that the results of the elections were "filed out of time".

The Nigeria Football Federation's Appeals Committee says the polls were conducted in accordance with the statutes of the Confederation of African Football and FIFA ©Getty ImagesThe Nigeria Football Federation's Appeals Committee says the polls were conducted in accordance with the statutes of the Confederation of African Football and FIFA
©Getty Images





The Committee also refused to consider Dikko's appeal by claiming that on November 13, he had written a letter to chairman Ajunwa saying he was withdrawing it. 

Those who signed the verdict are Dotun Coker, Mallam Sani Mohammed, Bala Garba, Victor Nwangwu and Mohammed Sanusi, who served as the secretary of the Committee.

Only Ajunwa resolved to take a minority position on the validity of the elections, contrary to that of the five other Committee members, who felt that the opinion of every member should be considered on every appeal as is the global practice. 

The differences manifested after Ajuwa refused to append his signature on the decision of the Committee.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
November 2014: Nigeria Football Federation Appeals Committee considering verdict over election dispute
November 2014: Nigeria hope to avoid FIFA ban after election court case is dropped
October 2014: Nigeria given ultimatum by FIFA over election dispute
October 2014: Nigeria set to face FIFA ban after court annuls NFF elections
October 2014: Nigerian Football Federation elects new President but court injunction casts doubt on result