Fifa president due in Nigeria to monitor Nigerian Football Federation elections in Katsina

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Confederation of African Football (Caf) observers are due in Nigeria today led by  Burkina Faso no-nonsense Colonel Sita Sangare to monitor Thursday's Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) elections taking place in Katsina.

At the high-profile NFF annual general meeting, there will be elections into all the board positions, with the battle for chairmanship being the most-keenly contested. Incumbent chairman Amaju Pinnick is standing for a second term but is being challenged by former chairman Alhaji Aminu Maigari and ex-NFF secretary-general Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi.

Eager to see the polls as not only free and fair but also ones in which there is no government interference, Fifa is sending international observers led by its president for the elections. Col Sangare the  president of the Burkina Faso Football Federation, described as an iron man in his home country because of his high esteemed reputation and integrity, will lead the Caf delegation.

Fifa has already released the names of two strict protocol officials that work directly with its president Gianni Infantino that will lead its delegation to Nigeria for the poll. Messrs Luca Piazza who is a senior official in the Fifa’s president’s office and Solomon Mudege, the senior manager for development programmes, Africa, will both accompany Mr Infantino to Nigeria.

Already the city of Katsina is already bubbling for the much-anticipated polls following the arrival of an advance team from the NFF secretariat. The NFF Electoral Committee put in place by its congress at the 2017 Annual General Assembly in Jos, headed by Muhammed Sani Katu, will conduct the polls.

Already, the committee has cleared Mr Pinnick, Chief Ogunjobi, Alhaji Maigari and Chinedu Okoye to contest for the presidency. Incumbent Seyi Akinwunmi will vie with Sunday Dele-Ajayi for the position of first vice president, while Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah will oppose incumbent Ibrahim Musa Gusau for the slot of chairman of the Committee of State Chairmen.

A total of 15 other persons will battle for the remaining eight available positions on the executive committee. All 44 members of the NFF Congress will cast their votes at the summit.