The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, and several members of the federation’s executive committee have resigned amid mounting pressure over the administration of Nigerian football.
The NFF board has come under intense scrutiny following a series of poor results and administrative challenges affecting the country’s national teams.
The latest setback was the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, ending Nigeria’s record of appearing at every edition of the tournament since its inception in 1991.
The Super Falcons lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), ending their title defence and denying them automatic qualification for the World Cup. They subsequently entered the qualification playoff route but lost 2-1 to South Africa’s Banyana Banyana.
The development means Nigeria will miss the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since the tournament began.
The NFF leadership has also faced scrutiny over the management of funds released by the Federal Government for the national teams.
The Department of State Services (DSS) is reportedly among the security agencies investigating the utilisation of the N17 billion intervention fund approved by President Bola Tinubu in 2024 to settle outstanding wages, bonuses and other payments owed to members of Nigeria’s national teams.
An authoritative source told Vanguard on Monday that the DSS had requested documents from NFF officials to account for how the funds released to the federation were utilised.
“It’s a normal thing for DSS to go through all documents relating to the funds released to them,” the source said, dismissing concerns that the investigation amounted to a witch-hunt.
The pressure on the NFF board intensified following the resignation of more than half of its members. Eight of the 13 members of the executive committee were reportedly said to have resigned from their positions.
The latest resignations could have implications for the NFF’s planned elective congress scheduled for September 27 in Lafia, Nasarawa State, where a new board is expected to be elected.
The development comes against the backdrop of wider concerns over the management and performance of Nigerian football, with the Super Eagles also having failed to qualify for recent FIFA World Cup tournaments.
The resignation of Gusau and other board members is therefore expected to trigger further discussions about the leadership and future administration of the NFF.