Abuja – Sani Lulu, a former President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has urged the newly constituted Senate Committee on Sports to ensure that the bill establishing the federation is signed into law.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill was passed by the seventh senate but was not signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan, before he left office.
Lulu, therefore, urged the new Senate Committee Chairman on Sports, Sen. Obinna Ogba, to use his position to ensure that the bill was signed into law by the present government.
“Senator Obinna Ogba was our very dear colleague on board, so, I was privileged to have worked with him as a board member of NFF.
“I sincerely believe he will obviously know what we went through in the course of projecting this bill to the house.
“If we want a developmental programme, there must be that independence clearly defined through the constitutional provision.
“I sincerely believe it’s a big advantage for us that we have somebody who is involved in sports development, a stakeholder that knows exactly what it takes to do all we are looking for.
“So, it’s an added advantage for us under this 8th Assembly that it could easily scale through because he is a focused man and I think he is quite determined to ensure that what we have tried to do during our time will be facilitated under this new regime.“
According to Lulu, the bill when signed into law, will help in the proper administration and development of football in the country.
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NAN reports that the NFF Act seeks to legalise the NFF and reduce government’s interference in football.
While the seventh Senate was able to push the NFF Bill to the former President’s table for his assent, the House of Representatives could not pass the bill into law.
Godfrey Gaiya, the former House of Reps. Committee Chairman on Sports, had said that the bill, which passed the first, second, and third reading, was delayed and could not be passed. (NAN)
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