Ochei: Why I joined NTF presidential race
Stakeholders in Nigerian sports will, today, gather at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, to elect executive board members of the various sports associations, who will run their associations for the next four years.
The elections will be heralded by the zonal and various affiliate bodieselections will be heralded by the zonal and various affiliate bodies’ polls before the members gather to choose their principal officers. The timeline provides for a two-stage electoral process, with zonal elections serving as preliminaries to determine candidates who will proceed to the national elections.
According to the NSC guidelines, the elections aim to uphold transparency, accountability, and good governance across Nigeria’s sports federations, in line with international best practices.
The process will be supervised by the NSC, with the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) serving as an independent observer to ensure credibility and transparency.
The electoral framework includes detailed procedures covering board composition, eligibility criteria, electoral regulations, petitions, appeals, and inauguration protocols.
All the federations are expected to elect their leaders today, except for the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), which conducted their elections early this year and the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), which polls will hold next year.
Meanwhile, renowned philanthropist, investor and supporter of grassroots sports in Nigeria, Victor Ochei, has explained his decision to join the presidential the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) presidential race.
Ochei, a former Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, and a former Executive Director, NIMASA, is a strong contender for the office following his numerous contributions to Nigeria tennis, and other sports.
Apart from being the patron of the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria (PCN), Ochie has been the sole sponsor of the International Wheelchair Basketball Championship, which has produced many stars for the country for the past seven years. He also sponsored Nigerian Wheelchair Basketball teams to various International Competitions, including the Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers in Algeria.
Speaking with The Guardian, yesterday, Ochei explained that he decided to heed calls by some top sports personalities to fill the vacuum in the NTF following the death of the former President, Ifedayo Akindoju, who passed away on October 3, 2025.
“I will like to put the record straigth. I have been a major supporter of grassroots sports in Nigeria, including tennis for close to a decade, not because of my interest to become the president of the NTF or any other sports federation. Also, the former president, Ifedayo Akindoju, who died on October 3, 2025, was my close friend. Some of my friends and other stakeholders in the sports industry believe that the only person who can fill the vacuum created by the death of Akindoju is Victor Ochei. I don’t want to ignore their call because I love tennis, and I am coming to contribute my quota to the growth of the game in Nigeria,” Ochie stated.
As part of his contributions to the growth of tennis, Ochie revealed that as an Audemars Piguet Ambassador, he attends the yearly global tennis grand slams, and for the past half a decade, sponsored the Davnotch National Tennis Open Championship.
“Aside tennis, I have been bankrolling the yearly Onicha-Olona Unity Soccer tournament for over half a decade, and I also sponsored the Delta State-owned football club (Delta Force) when it experienced paucity of sponsorship funds.”
A top official of the National Sports Commission (NSC), told The Guardian, yesterday, that several people are scheming for the position, with their foot-soldiers moving from meeting the electorate to lobby for them.
“Unfortunately for them, those who will vote on Saturday have already made up their minds on the quality of candidate they want as NTF President. The position requires a very vibrant, vast, and result-oriented personality. Victor Ochie is a passionate tennis lover who has devoted a large chunk of his life so far into the development of the game. Ochei has never missed the final of any grand slam in the last eight years, irrespective of where it is played.
“He funds his trips to watch and study the organisational operations, management, and administration of Tennis at that level. The whole idea is to implement these in Nigeria Tennis as part of his contributions towards the growth of the sports. He has been sponsoring various categories of tennis tournaments single-handedly in Nigeria in the last six years,” the official said pleading anonymity.
