According to a report by PUNCH on Saturday, August 29, 2026, former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has dismissed suggestions that his administration contributed to the decline of the late Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, insisting that he has nothing to apologise to the former Nigeria captain for.
Pinnick made the remarks in the latest episode of The Pinnick Tapes (REMASTERED): NFF Scandals EXposed, published on Sunday Oliseh’s YouTube programme, Global Football Insights With Oliseh, on Friday.
The former NFF president was responding to a question about whether the federation’s relationship with Keshi during the latter part of his tenure contributed to the decline of the Super Eagles’ golden generation.
Keshi remains one of the most celebrated figures in Nigerian football. As a player, he captained Nigeria to its first Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 1994, while as coach he led the Super Eagles to another continental title in 2013.
He also guided Nigeria to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where the team reached the round of 16.
Asked what he would apologise to Keshi for if he had the opportunity to meet the late coach today, Pinnick rejected the premise.
“There’s no way I would have apologised to Keshi. Keshi, God rest his soul, he was an icon,” Pinnick said.
He maintained that despite disagreements during Keshi’s time as Super Eagles coach, their personal relationship remained cordial until the former coach’s death in 2016.
“We had a very warm relationship until he passed, and when he passed, we were the first people that went,” he said.
Pinnick also denied that his administration deliberately worked against Keshi, arguing that decisions concerning the coach and the national team were based on reports and recommendations available to the federation at the time.
“But there’s no way I would have apologised to Keshi because we didn’t do anything wrong. We did what we did based on report,” he added.
The discussion followed a question from a self-described “Big Boss loyalist” who accused Pinnick’s board of contributing to the decline of the Super Eagles following their 2013 AFCON success.
The question also referred to the decision to name the Asaba Stadium after Keshi and asked whether Pinnick would apologise for the alleged tensions surrounding the coach during the final years of his tenure.
Oliseh, who conducted the interview, recalled his own difficult experience as Super Eagles coach and suggested that some of the institutional challenges faced by Keshi remained when he took charge of the national team.
Pinnick, however, defended the structure adopted by his administration, saying technical officials were given opportunities to contribute to football administration.
He explained that the NFF had technical committees and other bodies responsible for advising the executive committee and maintained that he allowed such committees to operate freely, provided their recommendations were consistent with the national interest.
The relationship between Keshi and the NFF had been the subject of public controversy during his time in charge. In 2015, the federation announced that Keshi would work with its Technical Study Group and that player invitations would no longer be solely at the coach’s discretion.
The arrangement gave Technical Director Shuaibu Amodu and a technical group a role in the process, while Keshi retained input.
COURTESY: WorldUpdate247
