President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has lavished praises on Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State for his sustained passion for sports and commitment to infrastructural development in the State.
The NFF numero uno made the disclosure in an exclusive media chat at the closing ceremony of the 2025 Nasarawa State Governor’s Cup Football Tournament held at the Lafia City Stadium on Monday, 16th February, 2026, in Lafia, the State Capital.
Gusau lauded Governor Sule’s commitment to transforming Nasarawa State’s sports landscape, making reference to the upgraded Lafia City Stadium and plans by the Sule-led administration to construct an olympic-size Stadium, to host, at least, sixteen thousand capacity crowd.
“Engr. Abdullahi Sule is one of the Governors in Nigeria that we have so much respect for, particularly when it comes to sports and talent development, especially football.
“Whenever we approach him for support in football, he is always available to meet the need(s), especially as it pertains to Nasarawa State.
“My being here today for the grand finale of the Governor’s Cup is as a result of what he represents in the sports world.
“He is disposed to helping young people, and the only way we can pay him back is to ensure that we have a level-playing ground for our young sports men and women to achieve their full potential.
“We strongly believe in Governor Abdullahi Sule and his administration, and suffice to say that we have started discussions with him on how to site an Olympic-size Stadium in Lafia so that we can partner to host one of our national football teams’ games in Lafia, and he has consented to that request already.
“As a Federation, we will continue to partner with him and the State Government to ensure that Nasarawa State continues to excel in the area of football.”
Debunking recent news reports across social media platforms that Nigeria had won the case instituted against the Democratic Republic of Congo to feature at the 2026 multi-layered FIFA World Cup to be hosted by the trio of United States of America, Mexico and Canada, the NFF President opined that the final judgement had not been delivered by the world football governing body’s Appeals Committee.
“The case is still being investigated by the Federation of International Football Association, FIFA, and such situation doesn’t permit us to begin to address the press until there is a full judgement.
“Already, we have lodged our petition through our reputable international lawyers about the Congo DR featuring some ineligible players during the African World Cup Qualifiers’ playoffs.
“While we await the final verdict, we hope it favours Nigeria.”
Quashing speculations, Gusau who is also Head of the West African Football Union, WAFU Zone B, confirmed that Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Eric Chelle’s future is secure, with no plans to terminate his contract.
“Super Eagles’ handler, Eric Chelle, has a two-and-a-half year contract with the NFF.
“As far as we are concerned, he is still on our pay list, and the contract is binding.”
Reacting on the performance of Nigeria Premier Football League’s teams at CAF Competitions, including the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation’s Cup, Gusau noted that the NFF was doing its best to have a strong and competitive league, but highlighted some grey areas affecting the full actualization of the country’s football governing body’s desire to achieve a holistic league that can compete favourably with the best around the world.
“One of the key challenges affecting our league is that we make our players to be vulnerable due to our inability to pay them good money, making them to embrace any foreign deal that comes their way, even if the money is insignificant.
“We can’t stop players’ exodus when our welfare packages are not encouraging enough.
“However, I believe that by the modalities we are putting in place, together with the Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye-led NPFL Board, we hope that our NPFL Clubs will have more money and sponsors to help improve the welfare of teams and their personnel to stop them from moving elsewhere.
“We are returning our league to the TV screens, and before the end of the current 2025/26 NPFL campaign, we would have our matches shown on about twenty-seven television stations across the country, from the eleven we already have, including the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service TV Station.
“This is our deliberate ways of wooing the corporate world to come and invest in our leagues, and we will ensure we bring in more money and sanction our clubs to comply to our rules and regulations.”
While reflecting on his legacy, the Zamfara State-born Gusau expressed a desire to be remembered for propelling football growth, developing grassroots talent, and using football to unite the nation under his tenure as President of the NFF.
“I want to be remembered for reviving and advancing grassroots football development, like we are witnessing at the Nasarawa State Governor’s Cup today.
“We will make ourselves available at any location grassroots football development programmes are being prioritized.
“We have also witnessed massive transformation in our National Teams, we have tried to clear backlogs of indebtedness owed, particularly, to match officials, officiating in the domestic leagues.
“I would also want to be remembered for encouraging States’ Governments to invest more on sports infrastructure to create a conducive environment for harnessing talents and development”, the NFF President concluded.
Karu Local Government Area massacred Wamba Local Government Area 3-0 to lift the 2025 Nasarawa State Governor’s Cup Football Tournament’s trophy, smiling home with a five million naira(N5,000,000.00) prize money, while the runners-up side, Wamba Local Government Area, parted with three million naira(N3,000,000.00).
Keffi Local Government Area claimed the 3rd-place play-off spot, after a 2-0 win over Keana Local Government Area.
Governor Abdullahi Sule, and other high-profile Nasarawa State Government officials and critical football stakeholders from across Nigeria, graced the final of the tournament, with awards to distinguished personalities alternating.
CREDIT: Eche Amos