GALADIMA GIVEN THE BOOT!

Galadima had a difficult relationship with the sports ministry. Ibrahim Galadima's reign as head of the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) ended in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. The beleaguered NFA boss was thrown out of office during the much awaited extra-ordinary congress in Abuja.

The NFA congress voted 68 to 30 for Galadima's board to be dissolved.One member abstained.
Asserting that relations between Galadima's NFA Board and the government had irretrievably broken down, delegates voted for a fresh start. Fresh elections to the highest decision making body of Nigerian football will be conducted between August 28 and 30 in Abuja.

"The congress went well and Fifa is now looking forward to a democratic and focused NFA by next month," said the world body's secretary general Urs Linsi. An electoral committee headed by former NFA boss Jogn Obakpolor was also named for next month's polls. Nigerian football has been in turmoil since a controversial election in December in Kano, which retained Galadima as chairman of the NFA for a four-year term.

A splinter group challenged the fairness of the elections and with the support of the sports ministry forced Fifa to broker an agreement for Tuesday's extra-ordinary congress. Two members of the board, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Peter Singabele, dramatically quit their positions Sunday, saying the board was "a sinking ship." The public and local press have blamed Galadima and his board for the country's failure to qualify for the recent World Cup.

BBC SPORTS REPORT.