GOMBE DISSOCIATES SELF FROM ANTI-LULU PROTEST, CHIDES NFF

FORMER chairman of Gombe State Football Association (FA), Ahmed Gara Gombe, has distanced himself from the protest against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board allegedly being put together by some stakeholders in Nigerian football, while at the same time berating the NFF for crying wolf where there is none.

The NFF on Sunday alleged that some stakeholders in Nigerian football had concluded plans to lead a protest march to both the National Assembly and the National Sports Commission (NSC) to demonstrate against the second term campaign of the NFF President, Sani Lulu Abdulahi, and members of his board.

Gombe told The Guardian yesterday in Abuja that he had never in any way discussed the protest march with any of the mentioned stakeholders, adding that he does not believe that taking laws into their hands was the appropriate way to stop the ambition of the present NFF board members.

He also lambasted the NFF management for crying wolf and accusing innocent Nigerians of trying to destabilise it when it was obvious to Nigerians that the board has failed on all fronts. He said: 'In as much as I do not believe in this board one bit, I cannot allow myself to be part of the purported protest against it.

“With the protest panic in the NFF, they have already examined the board's performance and concluded that they have no basis for coming back. Everybody knows very well that the Sani Lulu-led board has failed totally in the management of football in the country hence it does not deserve a second term.'

Gombe also wondered why the NFF chose to spread such rumours, noting that Ibrahim Galadima, who was mentioned as one of the planners of the protest match, has been in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for almost two weeks now. The football administrator was sad that the NFF referred to the eminent Nigerians mentioned in its letter as disgruntled elements, stating that it showed that the present board's continued stay in office has nothing more to offer the country.

He did not spare the National Sports Commission (NSC) of blame for the state of Nigerian football, noting that NSC officials have become lame ducks that could not stop the inordinate ambitions of the NFF board members. According to Gombe, 'it is the NSC that supervises the activities of all sports federations in the country.

“Where was the NSC when the Sani Lulu-led NFF board amended its statutes in order to achieve their second term ambition?'

He noted that only the government could stop the present board from succeeding itself since it is the financier of football in the country.