22, August 2018

US: Cohen pleads guilty to campaign violations, implicates President Trump ⁰

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to campaign-finance violations and other charges, saying he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to a porn star and a former Playboy model to influence the election.

Cohen’s account appears to implicate Trump himself in a crime, though whether or when a president can be prosecuted remains a matter of legal dispute.

The guilty plea was part of a double dose of bad news for Trump: It came at almost the same moment his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of eight financial crimes in the first trial to come out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s sprawling Russia investigation.

In a deal reached with federal prosecutors, Cohen, 51, pleaded guilty to eight counts, including tax evasion. He could get about four to five years in prison at sentencing Dec. 12.

In entering the plea, Cohen did not name the two women or even Trump, recounting instead that he worked with an “unnamed candidate.”

But the amounts and the dates all lined up with the $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and the $150,000 that went to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to buy their silence in the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 White House election. Both women claimed to have had affairs with Trump, which he denies.

Cohen, his voice shaky as he answered questions from a federal judge, said one payment was “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”

Daniel Petalas, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s public integrity section, said, “This brings President Trump closer into the criminal conduct.”

“The president has certain protections while a sitting president, but if it were true, and he was aware and tried to influence an election, that could be a federal felony offense,” Petalas said. “This strikes close to home.”

‘THIS IS VERY SERIOUS FOR THE PRESIDENT’: FRANCE 24

However, in the charging documents, a news release and comments outside the courthouse, prosecutors did not go as far as Cohen did in open court in pointing the finger at the president. Prosecutors said Cohen acted “in coordination with a candidate or campaign for federal office for purposes of influencing the election.”

As cable networks were showing split-screen coverage of the conviction and plea bargain by two former loyalists, Trump himself boarded Air Force One on his way to a rally in West Virginia and ignored shouted questions about the men.

Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, noted in a statement that “there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen.”

‘Take a bullet’

After the court hearing, which ended with Cohen released on $500,000 bail, the lawyer wiped away tears as he gazed out a courthouse window. He left the building and headed straight for a black SUV with tinted windows. A couple of people outside chanted, “Lock him up!” as they recorded the scene with their phones.

Under federal law, expenditures to protect a candidate’s political fortunes can be construed as campaign contributions, subject to federal laws that bar donations from corporations and set limits on how much can be given.

“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted.

Cohen’s plea follows months of scrutiny from federal investigations and a falling-out with the president, for whom Cohen once said he would “take a bullet.”

The FBI raided Cohen’s hotel room, home and office in April and seized more than 4 million items. The search sought bank records, communications with Trump’s campaign and information on the payments to the two women.

According to prosecutors, the payment to McDougal was made through the parent company of the National Enquirer. Cohen made the payment to Daniels through his own company and then was reimbursed by Trump, he said.

Trump denied to reporters in April that he knew anything about Cohen’s payments to Daniels, but the explanations from him and Giuliani have shifted multiple times since.

The president has fumed publicly about the raid, branding it “a witch hunt,” an assault on attorney-client privilege and a politically motivated attack by enemies in the FBI. But privately he has worried about what information Cohen may have after working for the Trump Organization for a decade.

“Obviously it’s not good for Trump,” Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, said of the plea bargain.

“I’m assuming he’s not going to be indicted because he’s a sitting president, Wisenberg added. “But it leads him closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House.”

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has held that a president cannot be indicted while in office. Trump’s lawyers have said that Mueller plans to adhere to that guidance, though Mueller’s office has never confirmed that. There would presumably be no bar against charging a president after he leaves the White House.

Daniels ‘vindicated’

Daniels said Tuesday that she and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, feel vindicated and look forward to apologies “from the people who claimed we were wrong.”

Nothing made public so far indicates Cohen has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but Avenatti said he is certain that is happening.

Mueller’s team, which is looking into Russian interference in the presidential election, came across some of the evidence against Cohen in the course of its investigation and referred the matter to federal prosecutors in New York.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said that in addition to the campaign finance violations, Cohen failed to report more than $4 million in income between 2012 and 2016, including $1.3 million from his taxi medallion holdings.

Cohen also lied to a financial institution by failing to disclose more than $14 million in debt and obtaining a $500,000 home equity line of credit he wasn’t entitled to, Khuzami said. Cohen used that credit line to fund the Daniels payment, prosecutors said.

After making the hush money payments, Cohen submitted phony invoices to Trump’s company, ostensibly for services rendered in 2017, the prosecutor said.

“Those involves were a sham,” Khuzami said. “He provided no legal services for the year 2017. It was simply a means to obtain reimbursement for the unlawful contributions.”

Before the election, Cohen had been a trusted member of the Trump organization, working out of an office in Trump Tower next to one used by his boss. He raised millions for Trump’s campaign.

The president’s initial support for Cohen after the raid soon degenerated into a public feud, with Cohen hinting he might cut a deal with prosecutors.

When Cohen’s team produced a recording he had made of Trump discussing one of the hush-money payments, Trump tweeted: “What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!”

(AP)

22, August 2018

Southern Cameroons War: Understanding the school resumption crisis ⁰

The school boycott adopted in Oct 2016 was a strategy by the Consortium to force the hand of French Cameroun to reverse its policy of assimilation and destruction on the Anglophone Sub System of education. It was a necessary strategy at the time.

However 2 years on, the Apartheid regime of Paul Biya of French Cameroun has no immediate intention to stop or reverse its Apartheid Policy.

The current crisis in Ambazonia is a political crisis-that of Decolonization and Annexation. Which if French Cameroun had good intentions it would have been resolved at the Negotiations Table not in the bushes with the barrel of the gun.

The current war environment makes it very difficult for schools to function normally and effectively. Some whole communities have been deserted. Some destroyed and burnt by Apartheid soldiers of French Cameroun.

And this has not stopped. We have seen some photos of French Cameroun snipers in Ambazonia. This sets the stage for the killings of innocent school children as they attempt to go to school.

Yes it’s very easy to say children should return to school. How do you guarantee the security of these children in the current war environment? This is the subject we should be discussing including the security of children while they attend their daily school routine.

The security of children is not a subject for emotional minds, but a subject for level headed, pragmatic and rational minds. How will children attend schools in Lebialem, Belo, Kupe, Batibo, etc where bullets are constantly flying in the air.

As a parent will you send your child to school in the named LGAs above. That is the challenge we are facing. What about all the villages that have been scorched (As contained in the report by Agbor Balla’s CHRDA – Centre for Human Rights and Development in Africa).

Schools can never resume effectively with bullets flying in the air. Unless there is a cease fire from both sides schools will continuously be disrupted.

I know some will quote Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan etc. Which also have ongoing wars but yet children are still studying.

So yes schools should carry on, however parents should note the following;

1) The Security risk of sending your child to school each day.

2) The potential of your child being injured or killed while in school or in the process of attending school.

3) The curriculum will only be partially completed due to the disruptive nature of the school environment.

4) Prepare for the trauma which some children will face as a result of the violence that they may experience as result of the war.

These are some of the challenges parents and teachers should brace themselves for.

Both sides – French Cameroun troops and Amba Boys should respect the Geneva Convention as schools should be protected.

But from past and recent experiences we all know who the defaulters of the Geneva Convention are. French Cameroun of course.

My dear Ambazonians, these are the challenges we face as to schools continuity as we continue to fight for the restoration of the autonomy of Southern Cameroons.

By Oswald Tebit

22, August 2018

Southern Cameroons War: French Cameroun human rights record spiralling out of control ⁰

French Cameroun continues detention of more than three thousand Southern Cameroons citizens and its vicious military campaign currently going on deep within the Ambazonia territory not only shows that Biya’s human rights record as painted by the corrupt UN African structure are just a sham but also that the Biya Francophone regime are almost out of control. French Cameroun under the 85 year old dictator reportedly has the worst human rights record in Africa and the Yaoundé government is playing a game with the European Union and the United States including Canada saying they are working to improve via the so-called National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms.

The war declared by the ailing Francophone head of state has demonstrated that French Cameroun human rights record, it’s just more of the same and even worse. The French Cameroun army particularly members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) are executing women and children in Southern Cameroons towns and villages, which is condemned by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group and other organizations.

The Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and 46 senior aides of his government have been behind bars with no legal representation ever since they were extradited from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Cameroon Concord News gathered that Francophone public prosecutors with strong ties to the Biya Francophone regime are calling for the death penalty for all Southern Cameroons detainees.

Yaounde has secretly executed several Anglophone human rights activists for supporting separation with French Cameroun. A majority of the Southern Cameroons human rights leaders arrested recently, came on French Cameroun government radars during the teachers and lawyers protests that demanded an end to discrimination against English speaking Cameroonians.

The French Cameroun government has arrested hundreds of Ambazonian women and children and many more have escaped into the bushes as the regime intensifies its crackdown against the people of Southern Cameroons. The United Nations said in a report that some 161, 000 Southern Cameroonians have been internally displaced by the war and that some 50,000 have fled to neighboring Nigeria.

French Cameroun security officials have also intensified security measures in the Southern Zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia including the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsular. The Ambazonian Interim Government under the leadership of Dr. Ikome Sako says it won’t back down on its fight for an independent state for Southern Cameroons.

The French government of President Emmanuel Macron is supporting the Francophone regime in Yaoundé and both sides have been spending billions of Franc CFA on the military in an attempt to crush the Anglophone uprising. They have destroyed Southern Cameroons infrastructures and they are killing hundreds of Southern Cameroons young men and women with little or no strong condemnation from the international community.

By Chi Prudence Asong

21, August 2018

EU officially rules out deal on Brexit by October ⁰

European Union chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier has officially ruled out the possibility that the bloc and the United Kingdom could reach a deal on Brexit during an October summit.

Barneir said after a meeting with Britain’s Brexit minister Dominic Raab on Tuesday that a deal on how the UK will leave the EU would not be completed by the European Council summit in October as previously hoped.

“I’m not going to say October, a few days here, the beginning of November, but not much later than that,” said Barnier during a press conference with Raab in Brussels.

The French diplomat, who has been tough with Britain on the country’s recent proposals for Brexit, said there will be works to do on key issues like the Irish border while the two sides will need time to prepare a political declaration on the future relationship.

Raab was still hopeful a deal would come through during the EU summit although he admitted there remained differences on key issues.

“If we have that ambition, that pragmatism and that energy on both sides, I’m confident we can reach that agreement by October,” said Raab after the meeting with Barnier, adding, “There are still gaps, we’ve had an honest conversation about those.”

The uncertainty about Brexit deepened in July when Barnier rejected key proposals from a plan submitted by British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier that month. May’s so-called white paper also sparked domestic controversies and caused two senior ministers in her cabinet, including Raab’s predecessor David Davis, to resign.

Fears have grown among the public that Britain could face serious shortage of foods and other basic items in case it fails to reach a withdrawal agreement with the EU.

May has said that there are still chances to avoid a no-deal Brexit but she insists that Britain would not accept a bad deal.

Culled from Presstv

21, August 2018

Battle For Southern Cameroons: Traditional rulers Flee Violence in Southern Zone ⁰

Dozens of Cameroon’s tribal rulers have fled their palaces in the English-speaking southwest region after armed men pulled the chief of the Balondo people out of church and killed him. Separatists have abducted and killed other chiefs in the region, allegedly for collaborating with the government.

At the Catholic church in Buea, southwestern Cameroon, people gathered to pray on Sunday afternoon for the late chief Stephen Itoh Esoh.

A week ago, gunmen pulled the supreme chief of the Balondo people out of the Baptist church in Ekondo Titi village and shot him dead.

Among those praying was Peter Njumbe, a Cameroon lawmaker. He said if the chief had listened to them, he might still be alive.

The chief refused to run away from Ekondo Titi, said Njumbe. He would not abdicate from his throne because of death threats. He would only abdicate if his own people told him they no longer wanted him and that he should leave the throne, says Njumbe. The chief would not abdicate his responsibilities, he added.

Funeral service for the chief of the Ballong people in Ballong, southwestern Cameroon, March 8, 2018. (M Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)

Strikes and violence erupted in the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon in late 2016, in response to the forced use of French in schools, courts and other public institutions. A separatist movement is pushing for independence under the name Ambazonia.

Chief Itoh is the eighth traditional ruler killed by armed men in the southwest region within the past four months.

Since July, the separatists have abducted seven other chiefs in the southwest and three in the northwest they accused of collaborating with the government. They circulated videos on social media of the chiefs pledging their allegiance to armed separatists, presumably under duress.

One of the abducted chiefs was later found dead, provoking widespread condemnation, while the others were released.

Many traditional rulers have fled the English-speaking regions to avoid becoming targets, according to the government.

Chief Joseph Ebong of Atati village escaped to Nigeria after being threatened with violence. Speaking by phone, he said he will only return to Cameroon when peace returns to English-speaking areas.

“We are appealing to both the national and international community to turn their eye on Cameroon and try to see how they can solve this problem before we shrink into a full-fledged, full-scale war,” Ebong said.

Traditional rulers say Cameroon’s military offers them little protection.

The governor of the southwest region of Cameroon, Bernard Okalia Bilai, is calling on the chiefs to return. He says the military has been deployed to defend the people, including the chiefs.

“They should come back to their homes. The forces of law and order are there to protect them against all acts of terrorism,” Bilai said. “The traditional rulers, we invite them to come back.”

Chiefs from the southwest region meet in Yaounde, Cameroon, Aug. 11, 2018. (M Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)

The attacks on the tribal chiefs have generated widespread criticism of the separatists in Cameroon.

Ebenezer Teba is a member of the elite in the southwestern town of Lebialem. He says the assaults on traditional rulers — custodians of ancestral traditions are unacceptable.

“It is an atrocity that has reached its apex,” Teba said. “Of course, those who are attacking are known. They are those claiming to be fighting for the independence of southern Cameroons. They are attacking traditional rulers because they feel these traditional rulers are giving information to government troops to enable government troops to attack them. So they want all traditional rulers, they are forcing all traditional rulers, to support their course.”

Sociologist Bernard Arrey, however, blames the chiefs. He says they are getting involved in politics and taking sides against the wishes of their people.

“Chiefs are meddling into politics,” Arrey said. “It is not strange to see chiefs treated like common citizens. Chiefs have lost control of their population, they have lost control of their dignity. Most of them are even victims of these fighters because they think that the chiefs are some sort a liaison, they relay information. They are some sort of a sell-out to the government forces.”

The armed separatists have never denied responsibility for the abductions and killings. They have instead issued warnings on social media against any chief collaborating with the government.

Cameroon’s government says it is counting on the chiefs to help end the fighting in the English-speaking region.

The government says hundreds of people, including more than a hundred policemen and troops, have died in violent clashes since January.

Source: VOA

21, August 2018

Southern Cameroons War: “Enemies of Ambazonia have faced defeat in Eyumojock and Akwaya” ⁰

A local leader of the Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces charged with the liberation of the Manyu County has highlighted the failure of the Biya Francophone regime and its allies deep within the Buhari administration in the Federal Republic of Nigeria in their push to regain control of the strategic border town of Ekok, observing that the enemies of the Ambazonian people have faced defeat in Eyumojock and Akwaya sub constituencies.

The captain of the Manyu Odeshi Warriors made the remarks on Saturday in a statement issued on the state of the fighting raging in the hinterlands of the Manyu County particularly in the Etoko-Kendem border and in the Ekok- Otu corridor. The Ambazonian freedom fighter also pointed out that the Southern Cameroons border with Nigeria has turned into a field of defeats for Ambazonian enemies adding, “We ask the Almighty God to take revenge on Biya and Buhari and their acolytes for their crimes and treachery against the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and its powerful Interim Government.”

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime and the Muhammadu Buhari Fulani crime syndicate in Abuja are two regimes that excelled each other in hypocrisy and treachery in order to prove their complaisance to the French government headed by Emmanuel Macron.

The Ambazonia Restoration Force has been defending Southern Cameroons women and children including the Ambazonian nation against a France-French Cameroun-led coalition of invaders.

The coalition, which features several soldiers from France and the Republic of Chad, began the campaign last year, killing more than two thousand Southern Cameroonians. Military planes donated by the United States government to combat the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram now provides aerial intelligence to the French Cameroun army, while helping out the invading forces.

By Rita Akana in Ekok

21, August 2018

Orphanage Pleads For More Support From Bisong Foundation ⁰

Though visibly grateful for another day of donations from Bisong Foundation, Thursday, August 16, 2018, the Orphelinat Le Bon Samaritain (Good Samaritan Orphanage) in Babete is, like Oliver Twist, asking for more.

After giving thanks for the donation of a washing machine and a flat screen TV set, and the usual donation of school needs towards the start of the school year, the director of the orphanage, situated near Mbouda in the West Region of Cameroon, Mrs Fomekong Tikun Jeanne Sylvie, presented demands for more needs to the foundation which is registered in the United Kingdom as a charity.

“Despite the efforts made to support these children, to provide them with recreational facilities,it remains challenging for us to attain our desired goals,” said Tikun. She therefore pleaded for help in acquiring the following: “A befitting playground and provisions to replace worn out or damaged equipment (beds, mattresses, blankets, water heaters and drying lines.”

(TO HELP BISONG FOUNDATION – A UK CHARITY – IN SUPPORTING THESE ORPHANS AND OTHERS, CONTACT THEM AT: +44 (0) 7956057504 / +44 (0) 7585112424 OR email@bisongfoundation.org.uk)

Presenting the orphanage, Tikun said it was created in 2006 by reverend sisters of the St. Benedict Monastery in Babete who hatched the idea after two newborns were brought to their care within weeks towards the end of 2005. She said the orphanage admits destitute children from ages0-6 years.

In her balance sheet, she saidover the years, 16 children from the orphanage have been fully rehabilitated and have reintegrated their natural families. She praised Bisong Foundation for its help which she said has boosted the morale of the orphans and bolstered them to obtain good results in school.

“Out of the 18 orphans going to school, 15 obtained promotion to the next class, two of them successful in the primary school certificate examination,” she said.

Acknowledging praise by the director of the orphanage, the founding president of the foundation, Bisong Michael said his foundation is also supporting seven other orphanages across three regions of Cameroon. He acknowledged the presence at the ceremony of his friend, Dr Bola Stephan, a Cameroonian also visiting from the UK, whom he said is a benefactor of the Bisong Foundation. He said Bola often mobilises friends and well-wishers to support the foundation’s activities in the UK.

Visibly overflowing with joy at what he saw, Bola said he will report back to those he called his group in the UK. He said, though he would not make any concrete promises, he trustshis “group” will make a significant contribution.

Bisong also welcomed the presence of Joseph Kamga, a former Indomitable Lion and former captain of Union Douala who travelled all the way from Douala for the purpose. Speaking in turn, Kamga said in reference to the founding president and the co-founder of Bisong Foundation: “What gives a man reputation is the works of his good heart.”

Promising his own contribution to the efforts of the foundation, Kamga said if things go as planned, a host of former Indomitable Lions including Joseph Antoine Bell and Roger Milla would accompany Bisong Foundation to the orphanage next year.

Mrs Bisong Hortence Manto launched the presentation of donation items to the kids which included school fees and school needs for all 18 children, health and hygiene needs, foodstuff, toys and snacks.

The Social Affairs delegate, Mrs Ngoupeyou Yomba Solange who personally brought an abandoned newborn baby, now two months old, to the orphanage said the minister of Social Affairs attaches much importance to the kind of support Bisong Foundation was offering the orphanage because such children are often neglected. “Through me, the minister of Social Affairs says ‘thank you’ to Bisong Foundation,” she said.

Bisong Foundation will in the days ahead make a donation to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Manyemen, Mr Bisong’s village of origin.

The Babete orphanage donation ceremony was preceded by a mass at the local parish. The officiating priest said God rewards those who share with the needy. In a football match with staff of the Babete Monastery, Bisong Foundation won 2-1.

Part two of Bisong Foundation activities in Cameroon this year was at Bamesso, also near Mbouda, native home of Mrs Bisong. For the second year running, the foundation awarded trophies and medals to laureates of the village annual football and handball tournaments after the finals on Saturday, August 18,2018.

Some of the trophies and medals were presented by the minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, an elite of the village and honorary president of the village development association known in French as Comité de Développement de Bamesso (COMDESSO). At the end of the ceremony, the minister saluted Bisong Foundation’s contributions towards development and in alleviating the plight of the underprivileged.

In an exhibition footballmatch earlier that day, Bisong Foundation played a 1-1 draw with the Veterans of Mbouda who opened scores in the first half through their No. 10 player, Awanang Maximilien, alias Musa. Bisong Foundation’s equalizer came in the second half also through their No. 10 player, 16-year-old George Ngonde alias Leonel Messi who is a semi-professional player with a club in Kumba in the South West Region of Cameroon.

By Franklin Sone Bayen

21, August 2018

Yaounde: Opposition seeks single candidate to challenge Paul Biya ⁰

Finding a single candidate to run against President Paul Biya in the October 7 presidential elections is a puzzle Cameroon’s opposition is working hard to solve. Negotiations are under way among parties for a possible coalition. There’s no success so far.

Joshua Osih, the candidate of the Social Democratic Front, the main opposition party, is measured about the idea of an opposition coalition for a single candidacy.

“We sincerely believe that joining forces of the opposition is a very good thing in an election but we do not believe it is an ultimate road to victory”, Osih said.

Another candidate, Akere Muna believes in a possible opposition merger against Paul Biya, in power since 1982. He says he’s ready to quit the race for a candidate chosen by the parties.

The presidential election in Cameroon will take place on 7 October. Eight candidates are running, including 85 year old President Paul Biya.

Culled from Africa News

21, August 2018

Fru Ndi’s next-of-kin blames Biya for Anglophone crisis ⁰

The main opposition party candidate in Cameroon’s October scheduled elections on Monday said, President Paul Biya is ‘‘the only one responsible’‘ for the conflict in the English-speaking regions of the country.

Joshua Osih, is himself a native of the North and Southwest regions in Cameroon, which have been plagued by a political crisis since 2016.

By the end of 2017, the crisis degenerated into a conflict between armed forces and English-speaking separatists, killing dozens, including at least 80 soldiers and police. 200,000 people were also forced to flee their homes.

“We have a problem with the system and this system has meant that we do not have simple political solutions to simple problems. We have a president who does not understand what is happening in Cameroon, who spends most of his time abroad and who thinks that sending the army as he did in the 1960s with the UPC can solve this problem. He can’t, Osih said.

Anglophone effect on October election

The shadow of this conflict hangs over the organization of the October 7 presidential election in the English-speaking zone, in which Osih and seven other candidates will face 85-year old Paul Biya.

This is the first time he’s running on the ticket of the Social Democratic Front, the main opposition party that was previously represented by its historic leader, John Fru Ndi.

Unlike other candidates, Osih says he is “against” a probe into charges of alleged abuses committed by the army in English-speaking areas, saying he believes, “there is a political responsibility that is far superior to the responsibility of mere military “.

AFP

21, August 2018

FIFA says Nigeria will no longer be suspended ⁰

Global football governing body FIFA on Monday announced that Nigeria will no longer be suspended over a long-running court case focusing on the disputed leadership of its federation.

FIFA said it had received confirmation that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had restored control of the body and its offices to its president Amaju Pinnick and secretary-general Mohammed Sanusi.

“In view of these circumstances, FIFA deems that the conditions set by the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council have now been met and consequently the suspension of the NFF will not take effect,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA made its ruling after a spokesman for acting President Yemi Osinbajo said Pinnick and his executive committee were recognised as the leadership of football in Nigeria.

FIFA’s strict non-interference rules

Last week, FIFA threatened to suspend Nigeria and Ghana over if their governments intervened in resolution of leadership and corruption stalemates respectively.

The governments of the two African football powerhouses had intervened in the management of the football federations.

FIFA do not accept third-party interference in its member federations and in the case of Nigeria, warned that it would suspend Nigeria if the NFF was not led by its elected president, voted in 2014.

Nigeria put itself on a collision course with FIFA in July when the government’s sports ministry directed the NFF to comply with a court order to overturn Pinnick’s election and recognise Chris Giwa as its head.

A FIFA ban would have immediately meant that Nigeria would not honour a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Seychelles next month, while they would also have been disqualified from the under-17 African zonal qualifiers in Niger, which kick off on September 2.

Ghana settles with FIFA

Last week, the government of Ghana reached a deal with FIFA to work together to clean up football administration in the country, shelving plans to dissolve the corruption stained federation.

Ghana’s attorney general had taken steps towards dissolving the embattled Ghana Football Association (GFA) after an explosive documentary in June showed officials allegedly soliciting bribes worth millions of dollars.

In both cases, FIFA had its way and will continue to strictly enforce its regulations.

“FIFA will continue to closely monitor the situation in order to ensure that FIFA’s rules and regulations are fully adhered to,” it added.

Source: Africa News