The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) stepped down on Thursday amid corruption allegations and a string of disappointing results by the country’s national teams, most recently the Super Falcons.
Ibrahim Musa Gusau’s decision comes a month before the federation holds its next general election.
Several members of the NFF board also stepped down from their positions, local media reported.
“I decided to resign from my position as the president of NFF,” Gusau told journalists in Abuja, adding he “advised” other members of the board to “also resign”.
Local media reported the NFF is under investigation by Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), over the alleged misuse of 17 billion naira (about $12.7 million) it received from the government in 2024 to clear a backlog of payments owed to national team players and officials.
Corruption and mismanagement
Despite being one of Africa’s leading football nations, the governing body has long faced allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
National team players and coaches have repeatedly protested publicly over unpaid allowances.
The latest controversy followed the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
The defending African champions and 10-time Women’s Africa Cup of Nations winners crashed out in the quarter-finals before losing 2-1 to South Africa in the playoff for a place at the tournament.
The defeat means Nigeria will miss the global tournament for the first time since it began in 1991.
The men’s national team, the Super Eagles, have also failed to qualify for the World Cup since their last appearance in 2018, missing out on the 2022 and 2026 tournaments.
Despite resigning, Gusau defended his record and blamed the country’s economic hardship and foreign exchange volatility for the organisation’s financial difficulties.
He also announced a partnership with Adidas that will provide Nigeria with $4.5 million in annual cash payments.
