Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), Kwara State chapter, has insisted that recent court orders resraining the Kwara Football Association from holding its elections be respected and that its right to vote as critical stakeholders in the round leather game be respected.
The association filed a suit at a Kwara state upper Area Court, sitting in Ilorin which has since restrained the state branch of the Football Association (FA) from conducting the June 13 election to be held in the Kaiama local government area of the state, meant to usher in the new administration for the soccer administrative body in the state.
Speaking at a press conference last Saturday, in Ilorin, the Chairman of the PFAN, Kwara State chapter, Coach Ashifat Sulyman accused the Chairman of Kwara FA, Mallam Idris Abdullahi of arrogating powers that he doesn’t have to himself by his decision to deny player’s union from participating in the elective congress.
Sulyman maintained that the players are the most important entity of football and the union will not succumb to any form of pressure or threats from the Chairman of Kwara FA to deny them their rights as contained in article 10.1 of the statutes of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
“As a law-abiding association that believes in powers associated with dialogue and consultation, we have written a series of letters to the Chairman of Kwara FA to see the danger of his primitive act of desperation but in his way, he refuses to thread on the path of honor and dignity to retract his decision”.
While stating that the union was left with no option after exhausting all forms of dialogue with the FA than to seek redress in a court of competent jurisdiction, he said, however, that PFAN had participated in elective congress in more than 20 states across the federation and that of Kwara State shouldn’t be an exception.
Sulyman revealed that the union has opened a channel of dialogue with the Kwara FA and is willing to withdraw the suit of the restraining order provided that FA acknowledges its statutory participation in the elective congress officially.
The FA called us to a meeting this morning and they have expressed their willingness to allow our union to be part of the election but we will only believe them if they communicate with us officially with a letter.