An emergency meeting of Nigerian football "stakeholders" on Friday voted to nullify last month's elections held by the board of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) that returned Ibrahim Galadima as its chairman.

In an eight-point resolution, the meeting in the capital Abuja, called by the sports minister Saidu Sambawa, consequently set up a new electoral committee to conduct fresh elections between now and February 17.

A seven-man electoral committee has been set up to produce in two weeks the time-table for the elections.

A total of 79 delegates from 29 of the country's 37 local football associations as well as 18 club owners attended the meeting. The figure exceeds the two-thirds majority stated in the statutes to form a quorum.

The delegates condemned "the elections held in Kano (northern Nigerian city) December 29, describing it as a charade, a monumental fraud, null and void, lacking in democratic process and legality required," they said in the resolution.

The venue of the meeting had been heavily guarded since Thursday the day of arrival for delegates, while over 60 policemen and a police bomb squad bus were on ground at the venue before and during Friday's meeting.

Speculations about an impending sanction from world football's governing body, FIFA, on the country have been rife in football circles following a crisis that gripped NFA over its election.

But, Chairman of the stakeholders Amanze Uchegbulam told the delegates at the meeting that FIFA were not reckless in enforcing a sanction, according to the official News Agency of Nigeria.

"Rather than wielding the big stick, FIFA recognizes that disagreements like our own attract external umpires, not outright ban," he said.

"Where sanctions are applied by FIFA, it means that all efforts at resolving a crisis must have been exhausted," Uchegbulam added.

Source: Xinhua