Bako calls for sack of Gusau-led NFF board after World Cup misses

Former Sokoto State FA chairman Dr Danladi Bako has called for the sack of the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led NFF board after Nigeria missed the last two World Cups. That criticism comes as Nigeria sit first in AFCON 2025 with nine points from three matches, having won all three and scored eight goals while conceding four.

Bako described the board’s continued tenure as unacceptable, arguing that its first term had produced failures serious enough to warrant removal. He said the federation’s leadership had mishandled Nigerian football and warned that allowing it to remain in office risked causing further damage.

Nigeria’s AFCON position offers a strong immediate result, but it has not erased the wider concerns raised by Bako. The Super Eagles’ latest five-match sequence includes wins over Jamaica and Zimbabwe, draws against Poland and Jordan, and a defeat by Portugal. The country also failed to qualify for the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.

Bako pointed to problems across the national-team system. He cited the Super Falcons’ quarter-final exit at the WAFCON and their failure to reach the Women’s World Cup, ending a 35-year run of qualification. He also said Nigeria’s age-group teams had underperformed, linking those outcomes to weak administration rather than bad luck.

The former Sokoto FA chairman said his view was shaped by his previous work in football administration and sports broadcasting. He was involved in advocacy for an increase in Africa’s World Cup places in 1992 and said he had also worked on the plan that helped Nigeria win Olympic football gold at Atlanta 1996.

As a remedy, Bako called for a restructuring of the NFF statutes and changes to the electoral process for the federation’s executive board. He argued that voting rights should be broadened to include the stakeholders whose contribution sustains Nigerian football, while rejecting the use of possible FIFA sanctions as a reason to resist domestic reform and accountability.