Prince Harrison Jalla has called for a major overhaul of Nigerian football administration, insisting that the country’s football crisis can no longer be solved with cosmetic changes to the existing Nigeria Football Federation structure.
Jalla, chairman of the Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reforms Initiative and PFAN Task Force head, wants the NFF electoral system fundamentally redesigned, with equal representation and voting rights for Nigeria’s five recognised federal units.
The veteran football reform advocate believes the present structure has contributed to the decline of Nigerian football and says the country needs a system capable of producing competent and accountable administrators.
“We need a complete reset of Nigerian football,” Jalla said in his continuing campaign for structural reforms.
His latest position comes as the controversy surrounding the NFF’s 2026 electoral process continues to intensify, with stakeholders divided over the direction of the federation and the credibility of the process leading to the next election.
Jalla has argued that the current system has failed to deliver meaningful football development for more than a decade and that simply replacing individuals without changing the structure would not solve the problem.
He wants the NFF board and Congress to introduce a more balanced system in which Nigeria’s five federal units have equal representation and voting rights, arguing that this would reduce the concentration of power and create a fairer route to choosing football administrators.
“We must have a structure that gives everybody equal representation and voting rights,” Jalla said.
For Jalla, the reform debate is not simply about who occupies the NFF presidency.
It is about changing the system that produces the leadership.
The former Nigeria international has been one of the most persistent critics of the country’s football administration. In March, he called for a new blueprint for Nigerian football after Nigeria missed the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, arguing that the NFF should bring together the best football minds in the country to establish a clear development plan.
He has also repeatedly questioned the competence of some officials occupying key positions within the federation, arguing that technical and football-development roles should be entrusted to people with proven knowledge and experience of the game.
Jalla now wants grassroots football to become another central pillar of the reform process.
He believes Nigeria’s football decline over the past 12 years cannot be reversed without rebuilding the foundations of the game, developing young players and creating a proper pathway from grassroots football to the national teams.
“Our football has been on a free fall for the last 10 to 12 years,” Jalla said in an earlier warning, blaming administrative and organisational failures for much of the decline.
The PFAN Task Force head has also called for the proposed NFF Normalisation Committee to be populated by people with genuine football knowledge and administrative expertise rather than individuals selected primarily for political or sectional interests.
“The people who will make up the Normalisation Committee must have the knowledge and expertise to give Nigerian football a fresh start,” he said.
Jalla’s reform campaign has extended beyond public criticism. In April, the advocacy group he leads took FIFA, the NFF and Monimichelle to court over an abandoned mini sports stadium project in Ugborodo, Delta State, alleging issues surrounding FIFA development funds and the management of the project.
He has also previously challenged the composition and voting structure of the NFF, with PFAN demanding equal representation for the statutory stakeholders that make up the federation.
With the NFF’s electoral process now under intense scrutiny, Jalla believes Nigeria has reached a decisive moment.
He argues that the country cannot continue changing faces while leaving the same structure untouched.
For Jalla, the choice is simple: either Nigerian football undergoes a fundamental structural reset now, or the country risks prolonging the decline that has already cost the national teams and the wider game dearly.
