EMMA JEMEGAH
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Pinnick has no intention of standing for election when his term expires in 2022.
The former Delta State Sports Commission chairman dropped the hint yesterday while celebrating his golden year jubilee anniversary.
According to him, he made the decision not to recontest for a third on winning a second mandate on September 2018, stating he would be stepping down for another person to lead Nigeria football.
“ I made my decision even before earning the second mandate on September 20, 2018. I will not be running for the NFF Presidency again. I will be stepping off in 2022 to give another person the opportunity to lead Nigeria Football. That is the truth,” he said.
The NFF boss stressed that in the past six years and three months he had been in the saddle of running Nigerian football, “we have all worked at not only steering the ship, but doing things differently. We have tried to make positive changes that would make things easier for those coming into the organisation in the years to come.
“We have planned, toiled, ploughed, planted and prayed, and we still earnestly pray that all will end in praise. Nigerian football has so much potential; we believe the work we have been doing will begin to manifest very soon.
He admitted that there had been challenges and obstacles. “There have been quite a number of challenges, odds, hurdles and obstacles. The important thing is we have remained indivisible, united and committed to the larger cause of the interest of the Nigeria game. There have been tribulations and simulated slippery ground here and there, but we have managed to weather it all and stand tall.
On AFCON 2022, Amaju said, “At the beginning of November, our expectation was that by now, we would have the ticket to the AFCON 2022 stuck in our pocket. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way. Against Sierra Leone, we scored four goals in 30 minutes and everyone thought it was a done deal.
It was not, and I believe the Super Eagles have learnt a big lesson.
“The lessons we learnt against Sierra Leone came at the right time, and will stand us in good stead in the World Cup qualifying series.”