Nigeria escapes FIFA hammer as court vacates order sacking Maigari

Nigeria has escaped outright ban by the world’s football governing body, FIFA, following the vacation of the court order sacking the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation led by Alhaji Aminu Maigari.
FIFA had given Nigeria a July 17, 2014 deadline to reinstate Maigari and other members of the NFF Board who were sacked following an order of a High Court in Jos, Plateau State.
The court, presided over by Justice L. D. Lot, gave the order following a suit brought by the owner of Nembe FC, Ebiakpo Baribote.
Baribote had sought the order of the court for Maigari and the others to stop parading themselves as NFF Board members until the case was disposed off.
The court granted the order, which led to the sacking of Maigari and the appointment, by the Minister of Sports, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, of an Acting Secretary General, Lawrence Katken, for the NFF.
This was based on the order of Lot that the most senior civil servant in the NFF should assume the leadership of the NFF.
FIFA reacted to this, suspending Nigeria from all its activities.
It initially gave Nigeria up till July 15 to reverse the development.
It accused the country of interfering in the running of the NFF contrary to the statutes of FIFA.
However, following the strike embarked upon the the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, the reversal of the order could not be accomplished, hence the two days extension granted Nigeria by FIFA.
The court eventually sat on Wednesday where the order was vacated following the withdrawal of the suit by Ebiakpo Baribote, whose husband, Rumson Baribote, was sacked as the first vice president of the NFF and banned from all football related activities for 15 years.