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Meet Ibrahim Gusau: The New NFF President

Meet Ibrahim Gusau: The New NFF President

Before his election as NFF president, Ibrahim Gusau was the chairman of the Zamfara Football Association and was NFF Chairman of Chairmen.

On Friday September 30, 2022, Ibrahim Gusau was elected as the new President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) — replacing Amaju Pinnick, who stepped down after 8 years.

Representatives of the world football governing body, FIFA, were in attendance as the NFF elections were held in Benin City.

Gusau polled 21 votes in the first round while his closest challenger had 12. He then garnered 39 of the 40 available in the second round of voting, to win by a landslide.

Here, FootballOrbit brings you all you need to know about the new President of the NFF.

Who is Ibrahim Gusau?

Ibrahim Gusau - New NFF President

Ibrahim Musa Gusau — 58 years old — is from Zamfara State, North West Nigeria.

He is an accountant by profession and previously worked as a civil servant with the Zamfara State Ministry of Finance.

Before his election as NFF president, he was the chairman of the Zamfara Football Association.

While serving as the chairman of the Zamfara Football Association, he was the NFF Chairman of Chairmen for 8 years.

He also served as the chairman of the NFF Security Committee.

He was a committee member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and also served as a Safety and Security Officer with the body.

Ibrahim Gusau was a member of CAF’s CHAN Organising Committee and in April 2022; he was appointed as a member of CAF’s Youth Organising Committee saddled with the responsibility of organising the U-17, U-20 and U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments.

He was the Special Assistant on Sports to former Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmoud Shinkafi.

NFF President

With the 8-year tenure of Kelvin Amaju Pinnick as NFF President coming to an end, there was a need to conduct an election that will produce a new President to lead the affairs of Nigerian football.

There were initial doubts over the election after a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that it shouldn’t be held following a suit by the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) over unequal representation and voting rights.

But on Thursday, 29th September 2022, a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja vacated the order restraining the conduct of the election.

At the 77th NFF Annual General Assembly held at the Heritage Hotel in Benin City, Edo State on Friday; 44 delegates from across the country voted to elect a new president.

There were 10 eligible candidates to replace Pinnick, they were: Hon. Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande, Mallam Adam Mouktar Mohammed, Barr. Seyi Akinwunmi, Mallam Shehu Dikko, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, Barr. Musa Amadu, Dr. Christian Emeruwa, Peterside Idah, Alhaji Abba Abdullahi Yola and David-Buhari Doherty.

In the initial voting results; Gusau recorded 21 votes, Akinwunmi got 12, Dikko scored 6, while Yola and Idah had one vote each.

However, NFF laws requires the winner to have at least 50 percent of the votes cast, which Gusau did not meet.

He needed at least 22 of the votes cast to be elected as the NNF president. Hence, the contest had to go into a rerun.

But moments before the rerun commenced, Shehu Dikko, Abba Yola and Seyi Akinwunmi stepped down from the race — leaving the contest for Gusau and Peterside Idah (a former Super Eagles goalkeeper).

In the rerun, Gusau got 39 votes while Idah had just only one.

Ibrahim Gusau emerged victorious and will now lead the NFF for the next four(4) years.

Ibrahim Gusau’s agenda as NFF President

Gusau had earlier promised to focus on developing grassroots football by rebuilding and rejuvenating domestic leagues if elected.

“The NPFL, NNL, NLO and the NWFL for women league are key in the progress of Nigeria Football. If our leagues are vibrant, I believe the successes will reflect on the performances of our national teams,”

“And for us to have strong national teams, both male and female, we have to focus on grassroots football which is the breeding ground for a better league.”

“Another area our administration will focus on is age grade football, for our national teams to prosper, the male U17, U20, U23 and their female counterparts will be given all necessary attention.”

“The senior national teams, Super Eagles and Super Falcons will surely get better if our cadet national teams are strong.”

Ibrahim Gusau when declaring his candidature for the NFF presidency.

Going forward

The new NFF President need to hit the ground running immediately to ensure that the Super Eagles qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and to also go further than their Round of 16 exit in the last edition.

The Eagles failed to qualify for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, after disappointingly losing to Ghana.

Furthermore, the new administration will also have to see that the Super Falcons regain their lost glory starting — with a good performance at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.

List of NFF’s new board members:

¶President – Ibrahim Musa Gusau
¶First vice-president – Felix Anyansi-Agwu
¶Chairman of chairmen – Ahmed ‘Fresh’ Yusuf Fresh
¶North-central – Margaret Icheen
¶North-east – Babagana Kalli and Timothy Henman
¶North-west – Sharif Rabiu Inuwa
¶South-east – Suspended
¶South-south – Rt. Hon Essien Udofot and Aisha Falode
¶South-west – Sunday Ajayi and Ganiyu Majekodunmi.

There had been expectations that Super Eagles legends would join the race to contribute better due to their experiences, but they didn’t contest — leaving the field to candidates who had been part of the NFF setup previously.

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