Tinubu orders comprehensive reform of Nigerian football 

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football to help the country “overcome repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental and world tournaments”.

In a statement on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, said the president blamed “structural weaknesses within the system” for the continuous struggle of Nigerian football “while other sports had recorded meaningful progress since the reset of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC)”.

“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football,” Tinubu said.

“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.”

Tinubu directed Shehu Dikko, NSC chairman, to work with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) secretariat to facilitate a broad, consultative reform process.

He added that the process must involve appropriate engagement with FIFA and CAF to protect Nigeria against sanctions for governmental interference.

The presidential directive comes a few hours after Ibrahim Gusau confirmed his resignation as NFF president. Muhammad Sanusi also stepped down as the federation’s general secretary.

Under Gusau’s leadership, the senior men’s and women’s national teams failed to qualify for the World Cup of their respective tournament.

The Super Falcons missed the women’s World Cup for the first time since the competition’s inception in 1991, while the Super Eagles failed to reach the 2026 World Cup, despite Africa getting 10 slots for the first time.

The failure also extended to age-grade football, with the men’s U-17 and U-20 teams missing out on World Cups.

Reports said the NFF leadership was pressured to step down by the government despite the possibility of FIFA sanction on the country.

Gusau was elected NFF president in 2022, and his tenure was supposed to end next month, with an elective congress scheduled for September 27.

The fate of the congress is uncertain as reports claim that a normalisation committee will be set up to oversee the federation’s affairs until further notice.