GIWA VS PINNICK LEADERSHIP BATTLE: Supreme Court Orders Case Back to Federal High Court

Supreme Court has ordered an accelerating hearing in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) leadership tussle between Chris Giwa and Amaju Pinnick on the 2014 elections into its Executive Committee.

The Proprietor of Jos-based Giwa FC was elected NFF president at an NFF Congress in Abuja on August 26, 2014 while Pinnick was elected at another NFF Congress in Warri on Sept. 30, 2014.

The Apex court the apex court, in a judgment delivered on Friday, sent the case back to the Federal High Court sitting in Jos, Plateau State, where it was commenced in September 2014, and ordered the said court to give it an accelerated hearing.

A five-man panel of the apex court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, unanimously set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Jos, which had held that the case could no longer be relisted before the Federal High Court having been earlier withdrawn by the appellants.

The Court rejected the plea by the appellants to have the case heard and determined on its merit.

The Supreme Court held that the conditions that could warrant hearing such case which ought to be heard by the Federal High Court had not been met.

The appellants, Yahaya Adama and Obinna Ogba, who had claimed that they and others were the authentic NFF executive committee members of the NFF that were elected on 26th August, 2014 had on 19th September, 2014, filed their suit before the Federal High Court in Jos, praying for among others: that they along with others allegedly elected on 26thAugust, 2014, be declared the legitimate executive committee members of the NFF.

The defendants to the suit were the then outgone executive committee of the NFF represented by its President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari and Musa Adamu, the Plateau State Football Association representing the football association in the 36 states of the federation, the Federal Capital Territory, and the Minister of Sports.

NFF’s counsel, Festus Keyamo, was quoted in the tweet as saying: “Nobody should cause unnecessary panic in Nigeria’s football. That’s my case.

“Supreme Court did not nullify Amaju’s election. The Supreme Court did not remove Amaju from office.

“The Court only referred the case back to the Federal High Court to be tried properly, to know which of the elections held in 2014 was right.

“Amaju was not a party to the case at the Supreme Court. So, the court could not have removed a party from office without joining the party and hearing from the party.’’

But the Giwa led NFF in a release said: “The Federal High Court sitting in Jos, Plateau State later in the process dismissed the Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick from office. The court ordered Chris Giwa to resume office as President of the football federation.

“While delivering his verdict, the judge in charge, Justice Musa Kurya granted the prayers of Yahaya Adama and Senator Obinna Ogba, to relist the case which among other pleas had sought to nullify the Warri General Assembly and the subsequent elective congress that turned in Pinnick as President of the NFF.

“Justice Kurya had also ruled that the election of 26thAugust, 2014 remained valid, hence identifying Giwa as the president of the NFF.

“The Pinnick-led board also filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Jos and a stay-of-execution against the decision of the Federal High Court, Jos. The decisions of the Court of Appeal having been turned down by the Supreme Court and sustaining the Orders of the Federal High Court automatically means that the Executive Committee led by Amaju Pinnick are out of office pending the new decisions of the Federal High Court.”