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FIFA Council Elections: Gombe Criticizes FG’s Support For NFF President

Published

6 years ago

March 8, 2021

Editor

With just four days to the March 12^th Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) elections in Morocco, the former chairman of Gombe State FA, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe, has faulted the purported federal government’s backing for the president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Melvin Pinnick, quest to win a seat on the FIFA Council.

The minister of youth and sports development, Mr Sunday Dare, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engineer Nebolisa Anako, had on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at a press conference, stated that Mr Amaju Pinnick’s ambition would further reposition Nigeria in the global football map where the country has made remarkable inroads, saying his triumph would follow in the glorious steps of illustrious compatriots Dr Akinwunmi Adesina (re-elected as President of Africa Development Bank) and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (first female/ first African Director-General of the World Trade Organization) in recent times.

Reacting to the Minister’s statement, Gombe described the comparison of Mr Pinnick’s ambition to the illustrious Nigerians like Adesina and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as a slap on Nigerians’ sensibilities.

He said there was no logic in the comparison of Pinnick’s selfish ambition with Adesina and Okonzo-Iweala, urging the NFF president to clear himself of all corruption cases filed against him by the anti-graft agencies in Nigeria.

“The Minister’s claims that the federal government is showing support to AmajuPinnick were faulty. Likewise, the comparison of Pinnick’s selfish ambition to that of Dr Ngozi Okonzo-Iweala and Akinwumi Adesina was a big slap on Nigerians. There was no basis for comparison.

When Akinwumi was campaigning for his second tenure as president of Africa Development Bank, he came and he met with the president, the president hosted him and we all saw it. Dr Ngozi also met with the President and we saw the pictures everywhere.

“She didn’t go to the Ministry of Trade and Investment for the Minister to say the federal government is supporting her, no. That is not the way to show support. If they are serious about supporting Pinnick, they should take him to go and see the president so that we really know whether we are fighting corruption in this country or not. We are Jokers.

“Pinnick is facing a lot of corruption cases and there is no anti-corruption or law enforcement agency in Nigeria that is not investigating him, the person we want to send to FIFA. Let him be investigated and clear of the corruptions against him before you compare him with Adesina,” Gombe said.

He accused Pinnick of undermining Nigeria’s national interest for personal gain and urged the government not to encourage arbitrariness. “Nigeria does not mean anything to Pinnick. You are giving him support yet he arbitrarily withdrew from CAF Presidency for a South African candidate. Unless the Minister is telling us that Nigeria withdrew for South Africa in a Continental position like that. We must not reward arbitrariness and undermine our national Interest for personal interest. It is hypocrisy for anyone to endorse Pinnick.”

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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

4 days ago

October 28, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.

Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.

According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”

The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.

Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.

Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.

Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.

He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.

Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.

He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.

In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization

Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.

Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee

is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.

The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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