By Olusegun Samuel Precious
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s football governance structure, citing persistent structural failures that have led to embarrassing qualifications misses on the continental and global stages.
The directive was made public in an official statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Chief Bayo Onanuga.
President Tinubu declared that the sweeping reforms must address deep-seated administrative flaws, expand stakeholder representation, revamp domestic leagues, and enforce strict financial accountability across the country’s football sector.
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions, and accountability across Nigerian football,” President Tinubu stated.
The President pointed out a stark contrast between football and other sports disciplines, noting that while other sectors have recorded measurable progress following the re-establishment of the National Sports Commission (NSC), football has remained trapped in crisis despite receiving the largest share of public funding and passion.
“Football, Nigeria’s most popular sport and the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment, and national attention, has continued to struggle basically due to structural deficits within the system,” he added, emphasizing that the country’s vast talent pool must be backed by competent administration.
To execute the mandate, President Tinubu directed the Chairman of the National Sports Commission to collaborate with the NFF Secretariat and relevant stakeholders to manage interim administration and oversee the reform process.
The Presidency assured that the transition would involve formal engagements with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to ensure full compliance with international football regulations while rebuilding the local framework.
