The Chairperson of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Referees and Development Committee, Faith Irabor, has charged the officiating officials for the Nigeria National League (NNL) season opener between Abakaliki FC and Madiba FC of Lagos to exhibit best practices and set high standards.

Osas Alohan, a promising young referee from Edo State, has been appointed to lead the officiating team. Alohan, a Grade A referee, recently participated in the pre-season MA courses held in Abuja.

The officiating team includes:

- Osas Alohan (Referee) - Edo State
- Festus German (First Assistant) - Delta State
- Favour Bogwu (Second Assistant) - Delta State
- Sebastine Onwe (Fourth Official) - Ebonyi State

The team will be supervised by experienced retired FIFA referee Ijeoma Nwosu from Anambra State. The match commissioner is Emmanuel Nnadi "Calico" from Imo State.

Faith Irabor, a retired FIFA referee herself, expressed confidence in the officiating team, saying, "We are proud of these referees, and we do not expect anything less. They know the implications of poor performance."