A planned NFF Annual General Assembly (AGA) will now have to be put on hold after a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, ordered that hearing notices be served on the football federation.
The AGA fixed for Monday in Yenagoa is to deliberate on the NFF elections in September.
According to The Punch, The plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/YNG/CS/70/2026 are a former Super Eagles player, Awala Jumbo, and a legal practitioner, Tekena Ediyekio.
Justice Ayo Emmanuel made the order on Wednesday when the matter came up for mention.
At the proceedings on Wednesday, the parties were absent. However, counsel to the plaintiffs/applicants, Rumson Baribote, who appeared in court, informed the judge that the plaintiffs had filed an ex parte application dated March 13, 2026.
He sought the court’s leave to move the application.
“My Lord, we have an ex parte application dated March 13, 2026, and we seek leave of this honourable court to move same,” Baribote said.
The court, however, declined the request.
In a short ruling, Justice Emmanuel held that the application would not be taken and directed that the defendants be put on notice.
“Having refused to hear the ex parte application, it is hereby ordered that the defendants be put on notice,” the judge ruled.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter to March 31, 2026, for hearing.
In an Originating Summons filed before the court, the Plaintiffs are praying the court to nullify the September 30, 2022, election of the Nigeria Football Federation and restrain its current leadership from further administering Nigerian football.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether the Ibrahim Gusau-led board can continue to parade itself as the validly elected leadership of the NFF in light of a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on January 19, 2024.
They specifically urged the court to resolve, among other issues, whether:
The plaintiffs also asked the court to decide whether it can enforce the appellate court’s decision under Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution by stopping the defendants from acting as beneficiaries of the disputed election.
In addition, they questioned whether the continued stay in office of the NFF leadership, including plans to convene a congress on March 23, 2026, amounts to contempt of court.
Upon the resolution of the issues, the plaintiffs are seeking several reliefs from the court, including:
“A declaration” that the court has the power to enforce the Court of Appeal judgment by restraining the defendants from parading themselves as elected officials;
“An order nullifying and/or setting aside” the entire electoral process that produced the current NFF leadership;
“An order directing the setting up of an interim board” with equal representation across the federating units of Nigeria.
They further urged the court to grant “such further orders as it may deem fit in the circumstances.”
In a supporting affidavit, Tekena Ediyekio stated that the suit was brought with full knowledge of the facts and with the consent of the co-plaintiff, whom he described as a former Super Eagles player actively involved in football.
He told the court that a subsisting order of the Federal High Court in Abuja made on September 15, 2022, directed parties to maintain the status quo and restrained the conduct of elections into the NFF.
According to him, although the defendants appealed the order and obtained a temporary stay, the Court of Appeal later struck out the appeal on January 19, 2024.
“The decision of the Court of Appeal extinguished the temporary stay and restored the full force of the status quo order,” he deposed.
Ediyekio argued that the implication is clear: “There is no valid legal basis upon which the respondents can claim that the status quo order was ever lawfully displaced.”
He further maintained that the September 30, 2022, election was conducted “in deliberate violation of a subsisting court order” and is therefore “null and void ab initio.”
The deponent accused the NFF leadership of continuing to act without legal authority despite the appellate court’s ruling.
“They have continued to hold themselves out as the lawfully elected leadership engaged with FIFA and CAF, organised congresses, and made appointments without any legal mandate,” he stated.
He added that the planned NFF Congress scheduled for March 23, 2026, in Yenagoa further demonstrates what he described as “continuing contempt of court.”
Ediyekio warned that the situation has created instability in the administration of football in Nigeria.
“The continued state of governance uncertainty… has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to the development of football in Nigeria,” he said.
He added that the actions of the defendants undermine “the rule of law, good governance, and the supremacy of the Constitution.”
The dispute traces back to a suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Inyang Ekwo, on September 15, 2022, ordered parties to maintain the status quo and restrained the conduct of NFF elections pending the determination of the case.
The order followed an ex parte application brought by stakeholders, including Harrison Jalla, Chief Victor Baribote, Austin Popo, and the National Association of Nigerian Footballers.
Despite the order, the plaintiffs in the present suit contend that the NFF proceeded with the election and has continued to operate in violation of subsisting court directives.
