In a move to bring to an end the struggle for who is the legitimate occupant of the seat of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, the Youth and Sports Minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung in a surprise move after denying backing the move of Chris Giwa to reclaim his alleged mandate as head of the NFF, has scheduled a peace meeting for January 20, 2016.

 
In a press statement issued by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the minister is expected to meet with the gladiators in the scramble for the NFF position, Giwa and the current holder of the position, who was elected at the rescheduled Congress held in Warri in 2014, Amaju Melvin Pinnick.

 
The statement which did not indicate the venue of the meeting, said that Barrister Dalung has called on the Giwa and Pinnick groups to be calm while quoting him to have said that “after a comprehensive study of submissions from both sides, I have fixed January 20, 2016 to meet with the leaders of the two groups to resolve the issue. In the light of the above, the leaders of the two warring groups are hereby advised to refrain from acts capable of jeopardizing the peace process.

 
“They should therefore maintain calm while the issue is being resolved. All should note that any act contrary to my appeal will continue to tarnish the image and integrity of the country and further scare would-be investors from our sports “.

 
This minister’s move is aimed at forestalling any crisis that could result in an attempt by the Giwa group to forcefully resume at the Abuja office of the NFF on January 12, 2016 in a surprised renewed claim to the leadership of the NFF which mandate they claim they allegedly got in the controversial election of August 26, 2015 that resulted in the temporary suspension of the NFF by FIFA.