`I can’t go to jail over NFA election ----Sports Minister
(Nigeria )
The Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, said he won’t go to jail following the
commencement of contempt proceedings in court against Tuesday’s conduct of
Nigeria Football Association, NFA, board elections in Warri, Delta State .
Danagogo’s comment comes on the heels of the court order
which restrained the NFA and its agents from going ahead with the election.
He told NAN in
"I can’t speak for other persons whether they are heading
for jail or not, but certainly I am not heading for jail. In law, documentary
evidence excludes oral evidence, that’s what lawyers will tell you. If you come
and tell me now that there is a court order against me I can say it’s a gossip
or rumour.
"I should not be told about a court order, I should be
served; you must read in between the lines to properly interpret and know what
directives you have been given,’’ Danagogo said.
The minister, who justified his earlier intervention in the
NFA leadership crisis, noted that the mandatory directive by the court led to
an interim leadership in July.
``The last time I intervened, a mandatory directive was
given by the court for the most senior civil servant in NFA to take over, so
you must understand why I have to intervene then. I looked at the issues and
said please let’s obey the court order while we seek further clarification from
the office of the Attorney-General and possibly see how we can set it aside.
``At a certain point,
one party said there was a court order that he should take over; the other man
said no, you could not take over because FIFA did not recognise Nigerian court
order. But at the end of the day, lawyers will interpret the order and we will
get to a position where we will decide on what should be and what shouldn’t
be,’’ he added.
Amaju Pinnick, Chairman, Delta Sports Commission, was on
Tuesday elected NFA Chairman to replace Aminu Maigari, following the board
election in Warri, Delta
State .
Pinnick emerged after a keenly contested election that also
had former NFA Secretary-General, Taiwo Ogunjobi, and former NFA Vice-Chairman,
Mike Umeh, in the race.
The election, which was held amidst tight security due to a
restraining order from a Federal High Court in Jos, saw Pinnick win the contest
with 32 votes.
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