BEVERLY HILLS, March 12, (THEWILL) – At the elections held during 43rd Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) held in Rabat, Morocco on Friday, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Melvin Pinnick was elected to the Executive Council of world football governing body FIFA.
Pinnick ousted the incumbent, Malawi’s Walter Nyamilandu, to clinch the coveted seat. The final elections turned out to be an epic battle between those two candidates from the anglophone block after the withdrawals of several other contestants leading up to the elections.
Pinnick’s election by a landslide 43 votes over his opponent’s saw the Nigerian football administrator emerge as the fifth vice-president of CAF. He joins Egypt’s Hany Abou Rida, Morocco’s Fouzi Lekjaa, Mamoutou Toure from Mali, Mathurin De Chacus from the Republic of Benin and Sierra Leone’s Aisha Johansen in FIFA’s main decision-making body.
Pinnick is the third Nigerian to be elected into the influential FIFA council after Orok Oyo (1980-1988) and Amos Adamu (2006-2010).
President Muhammadu Buhari immediately congratulated Pinnick in a message issued on Friday via his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina. The president stressed that by dint of hard work, dedication and consistency, Pinnick has proven to be an efficient football administrator and the world has taken notice of his competency by electing him into the FIFA Council and as one of the Vice-Presidents of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The president urged Pinnick to see his new assignment as an opportunity to enhance Nigeria’s reputation and identity as a football-loving country and optimally utilise the role of sports, through football, as a driving force to engender development, peace and stability at the regional and international levels.
The 50-year-old, who is currently serving a second term as NFF President, also previously served as CAF vice-president in Ahmad Ahmad’s administration between September 2018 and July 2019, before he was removed and succeeded by Congolese football administrator Constant Omari, who held sway at CAF during the FIFA ban of Ahmad Ahmad.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
