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Court 2 at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday, appear to have indefinitely suspended sitting in the matter with suit number, FCT/ABJ/ CS/293/2025, brought before it by Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku, Nigerian journalist, over the contract that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) took with Eric Chelle in January 2025, as head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
The Federal High Court has not sat on the matter since May 8, 2025 and the scheduled sitting of June 23, 2026 marked the fifth consecutive time the matter has been adjourned. Court officials insisted that no definitive time had been fixed.
Counsel to the claimant, Sheku Kargbo, said that the matter now stands to proceed into a sixth adjournment without having been attended to by the court.
“Consequently, no subsequent hearing or mention date has presently been fixed or communicated to the claimant,” Mr Kargbo said.
The journalist’s case against the NFF is not the only one the NFF is embroiled in. Recall that a PUNCH Newspaper report of December 5, 2023, titled ‘Corruption: Stakeholders Engage NFF in Fresh Legal Battle’, highlighted that NFF official had been investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, that “resulted in seizure of the suspects properties”.
According to the PUNCH report, “The funds (for which the NFF was investigated) include FIFA’s $8.6m 2014 World Cup grant, $10m 2018 World Cup grant among other streams of FIFA and CAF developmental funds, as well as sponsorship money from corporate bodies between 2014 and 2022’.
In a letter January 20, 2025, and pursuant to stipulations under Sections 2 and 4 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, Editor-in-Chief of Bob MajiriOghene Communications, BMC, applied to the NFF to be availed the ‘actual contract’ which the NFF signed with Mr. Chelle as Super Eagles Coach.
BMC also asked the NFF to include Chelle’s offer and acceptance letters, a request that the NFF did not agree to release to BMC.
