PINNICK vs GIWA: Supreme Court orders trial to start afresh in High Court

A Supreme Court sitting in Abuja has referred the case between the Amb. Chris Giwa faction of the Nigeria Football Federation and that of Mr. Amaju Pinnick back to the Federal High Court.

This means that the legal proceedings on the case which began back about four years ago will now begin afresh.

Giwa and his board had dragged the FIFA-recognized Amaju Pinnick-led board to the Supreme Court, to set aside the verdict of the Appeal Court after they had won at the High Court, claiming that the mandate given to them by the Congress of the Football house in August 2013 was sacrosanct.

But the defendants have held on to FIFA statutes to argue its case, telling the Supreme Court in their submission that football matters must not be adjudicated in the ordinary court, even as Giwa is currently serving a worldwide ban imposed by FIFA.

Following the court sitting, there were rumours that the election that brought in Pinnick as president was annulled as Giwa is declared president. But Festus Keyamo, NFF’s legal counsel, cleared the air by explaining the verdict of the court.

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“Nobody should cause unnecessary panic in Nigeria’s football,” Keyamo was quoted to have said by NFF in a tweet on Friday.

“That’s my case. Supreme Court DID NOT NULLIFY AMAJU ‘s Election.The Supreme Court did NOT remove Amaju from office.

“The Supreme 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.”

This means that although the case between the two administrations has not ended, it is clear that the current board is still in charge and Nigeria’s Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup plans are still intact.

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