Explained: Why the Nigerian government wanted the NFF board out

The President of the Nigeria Football Federation Ibrahim Gusau has announced his resignation from his position and has asked members of his board to also tender their resignations, Soccernet.ng reports.

For months, the crisis surrounding Nigerian football appeared to be heading towards a familiar conclusion. There were calls for change, questions over the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), concerns about the national teams and growing scrutiny of how the country's football affairs were being managed.

Then, this week, the situation escalated. For the last few days, there were rumours that Gusau and members of the NFF board were resigning, but nothing was confirmed until this morning when news broke that they had called for a press conference in Abuja.

There, Gusau confirmed that he was leaving his post. Although other members did not state whether they were leaving or not, he advised them to also tender their resignations.

Why is Gusau Leaving The NFF?

This is not the first time that the NFF board will be placed under scrutiny of face heavy criticism. But Nigerian football is at one of its lowest in a very long time.

Nigeria has had a troubling record on the international stage since Gusau became the NFF boss in 2022. Although Nigeria's failure to qualify for the World Cup that year was not his fault, he failed to take the lessons from that disappointment.

The Super Eagles missed the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the Super Falcons suffered an even more historic setback by not only failing to get past the quarterfinal of the WAFCON, but also failing to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup for the first time.

Those failures were followed by concerns about the country's performances across other national teams. The under-17 and under-20 male teams have failed to make the World Cup, the female teams have also suffered poor welfare.

But while the footballing failures created the political pressure, money may have been what made the crisis much more serious.

The Money Trail

The NFF's major sources of income are sponsorship deals, FIFA grants, and government allocation. And they have faced increasing scrutiny over the use of these funds.

Recently, there was controversy over a Federal Government intervention fund intended to settle outstanding wages, bonuses and other obligations owed to members of the national teams.

Reports place the amount under investigation at ₦12 billion, and Nigeria's anti-corruption agencies EFCC and ICPC are investigating the utilization of the intervention money.

The Department of State Services has also reportedly become involved in the scrutiny, further increasing the pressure surrounding the federation.

This is not the first time that there will be questions about the NFF's finances.

Is The Government Responsible For The NFF Shakeup?

Although there is no confirmation that the Nigeria Federal Government forced the change, that will be the likely case. To keep it a buck, the NFF board would never resign even if Nigerian football was on fire, which it actually is in now.

So these moves are likely spurred by a higher power. And the issues plaguing Nigerian football like the lack of transparency and failures of the national teams are the likely cause. Moreover, at a tournament in June, the Minister of the FCT Nyesom Wike complained about Nigeria's absence at the World Cup. So clearly, these people are watching football.

Tell Super Eagles that we are not happy about Nigeria's absence in the World Cup.

– Nyesom Wike to Ex. Super Eagles Captain Joseph Yobo.

Video Credit : Channels TV // X pic.twitter.com/jrILZmxneu

— Vanguard Newspapers (@vanguardngrnews) June 24, 2026

Also, this move will be hailed as a politically correct move. This is election season, so the government would definitely want to make moves that will put them in Nigerians' good books.

Of course, the government would never come out to openly say that they told Gusau to resign. Doing that would warrant a ban from FIFA, hence the subtlety.

Now that Gusau is gone, it will be interesting to see how the next leadership of the NFF is constituted. There has been talk that the former president Amaju Pinnick will head a committee that will oversee Nigerian football for a while.

If that turns out to be true, it would be like jumping from fry-pan to fire, as Pinnick led the NFF previously, and he performed poorly.