Nigeria Content Online

Amos
Adamu, an executive committee member of FIFA, along with former acting
president of the Nigeria Football Federation Aminu Maigari, and 27
others, are expected to appear in court today to face contempt charges.

Failure to appear at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos will have dire consequences for any of the parties concerned.

The presiding
judge, Okon Abang had on Tuesday adjourned the hearing to today after
repeated apologies from the defendants’ counsel, but not before
declaring that he will be compelled to summon members of the NFF to
court if they once again failed to show up. Sixteen members of the
Federation had failed to appear in court on Tuesday to face contempt
charges for allegedly contravening a restraining order not to hold the
contentious August 26 elections into the NFF board.

In their defense,
their counsel Joseph Nwobike, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had said
their absence in no way meant to disrespect the court.

“I have accepted
the apology given by the learned SAN,” Mr Abang said on Tuesday, before
adding: “If those that are not in court fail to appear at the next
adjourned date, I will have no choice but to compel them to be brought
to court and then their absence will have a different colouration.”

The National
Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) had filed a suit against the
NFF and others, alleging that the process of the election was perfected
without recourse to its members, contrary to the clear wordings of
FIFA’s statute and other extant laws relating to football
administration in Nigeria.

Besides Adamu and
Maigari, other co-defendants in the suit are Davidson Owumi, the
chairman of the Nigerian Premier League; Sports minister, Ibrahim Bio;
the sports ministry’s Director General, Patrick Ekeji; and the chairman
of the NFF’s electoral committee, Abdulkareem Mustapha, who had
alongside Maigari, following the nullification of the August 26
elections, filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Lagos, asking
the appellate court to set aside the ruling of the Federal High Court,
which nullified the election.

Despite the judge’s warning, it however remains doubtful if Adamu
will be able to make an appearance in court as he is presently in
Trinidad and Tobago overseeing the ongoing FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup.