Majority members of the NFF 2014 Electoral Appeals Committee met with sports journalists in Lagos State.Here is the full text.
We have called you this morning as the majority members of the NFF 2014
Electoral Appeals Committee. This has become necessary not to trade words but
to clarify certain issues which were misrepresented or wilfully ignored by Mr. Okey
Ajunwa at the press conference he unilaterally and without authority hosted in
Abuja allegedly on behalf of the Electoral Appeals Committee.
We reiterate that in line with the Electoral Code Mr. Okey Ajunwa is
only one of 3 (three) members of the Committee and when you include the 2
(substitute members) who we agreed should attend all the sittings and meetings,
he is only 1 (one) voice out of 5 (five). Ref: Article 12 (1), Appeals
Procedure states that “The election appeal committee is constituted of three
members and, two substitutes elected by the general assembly at the same time
as the members of the Committee. One of the members shall have a legal
training”.
We must first note that all members of the Committee
were appointed by the congress and given equal rights. The
congress never nominated nor
appointed Mr. Ajunwa as Chairman of the Committee; it was
us the members of the
Committee who for the sake of
convenience in convoking meetings that appointed him as the Chairman of the Committee. We therefore reiterate what we pointed out to him at
the last meeting of the Committee that by the letters of the Electoral Code all members of the Committee have
equal rights regarding any
decision of the Committee and
that arrogating superior powers to himself was not only condescending towards
the other members of the committee, it is in clear breach of the Electoral Code
and also the rules of fairness and equity as it would amount to the minority
overruling the majority or the tail wagging the dog..
We will in the course of this conference refer to some parts of his
minority report which will not only exhibit levels of refusal to adhere to the
NFF Electoral Code which he showed but also the obvious insincerity he
displayed which has made us lose complete confidence in him.
SITTING OF THE NFF 2014 ELECTORAL APPEALS COMMITTEE
We brought to the notice of Mr. Okey Ajunwa the crucial matter of the
jurisdiction of the Committee to sit over the appeals by virtue of the fact
that by the time he convoked our first meeting, we were already out of time
having not conformed with Articles 12 (2) and (3) and without power to extend
the time within which to hear the appeals. The Articles are for ease of
reference reproduced here;.
1. Article 12 (2): Any
appeal, with its reasons, shall
be sent by registered post or delivered in exchange for confirmation of receipt
to the general secretariat of the association within 14 days of receipt of the
Committee’s decisions.
2. Article 12 (3): appeals shall be considered by the
election appeal committee within 14 days of their receipt by the general
secretariat.
At our meeting we noted the
following;
a. That the election took place on
September 30, 2014.
b. Article 12 (2) and (3) are
not ambiguous and, shall be simply interpreted as; “protest shall be filed 14
days from 30/9/2014 and another 14 days thereafter for consideration of the
appeal”.
c. That Article 12 (2) and,
(3) of the Electoral Code clearly provides the time within which any appeal
against the NFF elections of September 30, 2014 can be heard by the NFF 2014
Electoral Appeals Committee as stated by the appellant.
d. We noted the letter mailed
to Mr. Okey Ajunwa by one of the members of the NFF 2014 Electoral
Appeals Committee, Mr. Dotun Coker on 2nd October 2014
reminding him of the the Appeals Procedure and the need
to sit within time. The letter referred to was sent and received well before any person(s)
submitted their protest letters.
e. We noted the
acknowledgement of the letter by the Chairman on this important issue.
f. The Chairman failed to
activate (d) above as contained in Mr. Dotun Coker’s letter.
g. Reference to barrister
Igbokwe Leonard Ikechukwu appeal on item 31 page 9 by Mr. Okey Ajunwa which
state “in the instant case, although the Appellant’s Appeal was filed within
time on 10.10.14, the General Secretariat of NFF did not bring the Appellant’s
Appeal to the notice of Appeals Committee until 13.10.24”
h. Furthermore reference to Barrister
Igbokwe Leonard Ikechukwu appeal on item 40 page 10 by Mr. Okey Ajunwa which
state “in the instant case, the Appellant’s Appeal was filed and received by
the General Secretariat of the 2nd respondent on 10.10.14. The said
appeal was brought to the attention of the appeals committee on 13th
October, 2014. Upon being aware of the appellant’s appeal, the appeal committee
quickly considered same in line with the provisions of article 12 (3) of the
electoral code”.
i.
Mr Okey Ajunwa lied. The Committee never met let alone
consider any appeal earlier than 29th October 2014 after the expiry
of the Committee’s jurisdiction to sit.
We are aware that Mr Okey Ajunwa was in far away Japan at the time we were
supposed to “consider” the Appeals. This singular act portrayed the Appeal
Committee as irresponsible as indeed, it was gross dereliction of duty by him.
Perhaps it might be necessary to ask Mr Okey Ajunwa when he convened a meeting
where Igbokwe’s Appeal was considered by the Committee as indicated in item
40(Page 10) of Mr Okey Ajunwa’s minority Report on Igbokwe’s Appeal.
j. It follows therefore, that
Muazu Suleiman’s appeal received by NFF Secretariat on the 3rd of
October 2014 ought to have been considered on the 17th of October
2014 as dictated by Article 12(3) of the Electoral Code.
k. In the same vein Barr.
Igbokwe’s appeal received by the Secretariat on the 10th of October 2014 and
subsequently delivered to Mr Okey Ajunwa on the 13th of October ought
to have been amply considered by the Appeal Committee since him, Mr Okey Ajunwa
had 11 days to convene a meeting of the Committee, which he never did. It would
have been share mischief to have dropped the buck of this gross dereliction of
duty on the Secretariat as alluded by Mr Okey Ajunwa in item 31 and 32 of his
minority report.
l.
Therefore, failure of Mr Okey Ajunwa, to call for a meeting
in line with Article 7(Convoking the Committee and Quorum of the Electoral
Code) on or before 28/10/2014 did indeed make the Electoral Appeal Committee
functus officio by sting on the 29/10/2014 and by virtue of the provisions of
Article 12(3) of the Electoral Code.
m. The NFF 2014 Electoral
Appeal Committee had therefore no jurisdiction to sit outside the time limit provided
by Article 12(3) of the Electoral Code.
n. However
because he had insisted on a pubic sitting we felt that we needed for the sake
of completeness to consider the issues raised on Appeal so that the public does
not think that we want to disenfranchise the appellants. Since after
considering the issues we could note in our ruling that our jurisdiction had
lapsed.
WRONGFUL DISQUALIFICATION OF MR. SHEHU DIKKO AND, NULLIFICATION OF MR.
AMAJU PINNICK PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
a. The Electoral Committee
Chairman reaffirmed that Mr. Shehu Dikko was not disqualified on the floor of
the election hall. The Electoral Committee only announced that any candidate
who was not physically present may not be voted for by the delegates for best
reasons known to the Committee. This was also applicable to other candidates
including Mr. Jarret Tenebe Celestine.
b. In furtherance to (a)
above, the Electoral Committee have exercised their powers in line with Part G.
(5) and, (6) Final Provisions of the Electoral Code.
Part G (5) states that
“All matters relating to the administrative and, technical organization of the
elective general assembly that are not covered by this code shall be ruled upon
by the Committee”.
Part G (6) states that
“All matters relating to the running of the elections not covered by this code
shall be ruled upon by the Committee”.
c. Mr. Okey Ajunwa glossed
over the issue of the Locus Standi of Barrister. Igbokwe to argue on Mr. Shehu Dikko’s
absence at the election venue even though this issue had been
thrashed out at our meeting and the majority ruled that Barrister Igbokwe had
no such Locus not having run for that post.
d. Moreover, we reaffirmed
that Mr. Shehu Dikko had withdrawn his appeal as, confirmed
by the withdrawal letter of Mr. Shehu Dikko brought and, shown to members by
Mr. Okey Ajunwa on November 13, 2014. Members advised him to lodge the
withdrawal letter with the Secretariat appropriately. It was later found out
that curiously Mr Okey Ajunwa failed to lodge the withdrawal with the
Secretariat as advised by the members.
e. Surprisingly, Mr. Okey
Ajunwa came to the meeting of Wednesday, December 03, 2014 with a copy of Mr.
Shehu Dikko’s appeal for consideration. Mr. Okey Ajunwa admitted showing the withdrawal letter of Mr. Shehu Dikko to
members except to Mr. Dotun Coker (curiously) and, refused and, failed to produce
the withdrawal letter when asked. We therefore decided not to
consider the appeal.
f. In furtherance to the
above and logical reasoning, we therefore reaffirmed the Presidential Election
of Mr. Amaju Pinnick at the NFF 2014 Elective Congress held at Warri on
September 30, 2014. As there was no valid protest against him
NULLIFICATION
OF MR.SEYI AKINWUMI’S VICE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION.
a. Mr Okey Ajunwa
disqualified Mr. Seyi Akinwunmi on account of him and, the President coming
from Southern Nigerian and therefore not complying with the policy of Federal
Character and geo-political spread. He derived his judgement from Alhaji Muazu
Suleiman’s submission that “Mr Amaju Pinnick who was declared winner of NFF
Presidential Election is from the South-South zone of Nigeria, the same zone
where Mr Seyi Akinwunmi is from contrary to the tradition of NFF which
prohibits the President and the First Vice President to come from the same
zone”.
b. Mr Okey Ajunwa gleefully
elected to ignore the provisions of the Statutes, Electoral Code and
Guidelines which in Articles 7(a) and 22 of the NFF Electoral Guidelines and
Article 33(1) of NFF Statutes which, in this case, referred to the 6
geo-political zones and rather chose to refer to unwritten traditions that
confers no moral or legal burden on anybody.
c. It must be mentioned that
the concept of Northern and, Southern Nigeria is anachronistic and, even
primordial and, can only question the sincerity of Mr Okey Ajunwa. Other than
raising the bar of mischief and inciting ethnic sentiments, this feigned
ignorance of what 6 geo-political zones as defined in Article 22 of the NFF
Electoral Guidelines means, by Mr. Okey Ajunwa serves no other purpose.
d. We reaffirm that the
President is from the South-South Zone while the First Vice President is from
the South West zone and by this, insist that the provisions of Article 7(a) of
the Electoral Guidelines and Article 33(1) of the NFF Statutes are eminently
satisfied.
e. At
our meeting on the 3rd of December it was unanimously agreed
(including by Mr. Okey Ajunwa) that there was no valid protest against Mr. Seyi
Akinwunmi. We were therefore surprised at his about turn and it reeks of
mischief.
f. Consequently, we upheld Mr
Seyi Akinwunmi as duly elected the 1st Vice President of NFF at the
NFF 2014 Elective Congress held at Warri, on 30th September 2014.
NULLIFICATION OF MESSRS FELIX ANYANSI
AND, RABIU SHERIFF INUA ELECTION.
Let us start by stating clearly that Article 7(b) of
NFF Executive Committee Election Guidelines being referred to is strictly for
all candidates at the NFF 2014 Elective Congress. The outcome of this election
did not produce two candidates from the same state as alleged by Mr Okey
Ajunwa.
a. Furthermore, the 2014
Elections have not been completed as the elections into the Executive of the
Leagues are yet to be conducted by the 2014 Electoral Committee.
b. The elections into Leagues
have their own Electoral Guidelines, Codes and, Congress.
c. It must be mentioned also
that High Chief Emeka Inyama and, Alhaji Ahmed Kawu were not elected through
the electoral process of the NFF 2014 Elective Congress held at Warri on
September 30, 2014.
d. It will be preposterous to
force the interpretation of Article 7(b) of the Electoral Guidelines into a
straight jacket without taking into consideration the extraneous factors
surrounding the coincidence of the emergence of these individuals from the same
state.
e. We insist that High Chief
Emeka Inyama and Alhaji Ahmed Kawu are products of the previous NFF Executive
Committee of NFF led by Alhaji Aminu Maigari whose tenures merely overlapped
into the current NFF Executive.
f. At
various meetings, while Mr. Okey Ajunwa agreed that there was no case against
these 2 (two) gentlemen, he said that we should “sacrifice” them as they were
the only 2 (two) that even had a semblance of a case against them, so that the committee would have been seen to have any
done some work. We outrightly rejected his proposition.
g. We therefore reaffirm our
position that Chief Felix Anyansi and Alhaji Sheriff Rabiu Inua were duly
elected by the 2014 Electoral Congress held in Warri on September 30, 2014.
REMOVAL OF MR. DOTUN COKER AS A
MEMBER OF THE NFF 2014 ELECTORAL APPEALS COMMITTEE.
FURTHER FINDINGS:
a. The appellant relied on a
Newspaper publication to submit his allegations.
b. We equally noted that the
appellant’s name in the submitted Newspaper publication as the Vice Chairman,
Disciplinary Committee.
c. The appellant failed to
provide admissible NFF letter of appointment and, acceptance by Mr. Dotun
Coker.
d. The appellant failed to
provide any still photos of the inauguration of the Youth Development Committee
showing Mr. Dotun Coker as a member.
e. Mr. Okey Ajunwa allowed
Mr. Dotun Coker to sit as a member throughout the proceedings. his removal as a
member of the NFF 2014 Appeals Committee in Mr Okey Ajunwa’s minority report is
irrelevant, immaterial, incompetent and, of no effect.
f. Part C: Article 3 (2) and,
(4). Basic Principles of the Electoral Code clearly define ineligibility of
members of the Electoral Committee;
Article 3 (2); “The
members of the Committee must under no circumstances be members of the
executive body”.
Article 3 (4); “The
members of the Committee must immediately decline to give an opinion and,
withdraw from the matter in progress if they are;
1. A candidate for an elected
post.
2. A relative, whether by
birth or marriage, of one of the candidates for an elected post.
3. A government official of
any kind.
g. We affirm that Mr. Dotun
Coker does not fall into any of the categories specified in Part C: Article 3
(2) and, (4).
h. We upheld that Mr. Dotun
Coker remains a member of the NFF 2014 Electoral Appeals Committee.
VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE
ALLEGATIONS:
a.
He lied that the Appeals
Committee sat to consider Bar. Igbokwe’s appeal before 28/10/2014 and, we never
sat until 29/10/2014.
b.
He
hid Shehu Dikko’s withdrawal letter and refused to give it to the Secretary of
the Electoral Appeals Committee even when we demanded he does so.
c.
He
had at various times tried to play divide and rule among the Electoral Appeals
Committee making all sorts of untoward offers to individuals.
d.
He
had obviously written his 80 page
Minority Report prior to our meeting of 3rd December 2014 as
it contained resolutions which contradicted even his own position at our
meetings not to talk of the unanimous resolutions.
1.
USURPING OF SECRETARIAT
FUNCTIONS:
a.
Barring the Secretary from
performing his functions.
b.
Insisting using a Lawyer
from his Chamber for Secretariat duties
c.
Sending out invite to
members
d.
Arranging logistics
2.
SELECTIVE INVITE OF
MEMBERS:
a.
Attempt to source funds
from external parties especially for Committee sitting inside the week
17/11/2014.
3.
DICTATORIAL LEADERSHIP
STYLE:
a.
Persistent late coming to
meetings
b.
Unilateral suspension of
further meetings
c.
Insistence of having the
final say on Legal matters
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