South South turns battle ground
Some of the contestants in the forthcoming Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) elections have urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to dissolve the management board of the federation before the polls.
According to stakeholders, the dissolution will allow for equal opportunity for every contender in the polls and nip in the bud any plan by any of the parties to manipulate the elections.
Among the stakeholders, a former Nigeria triple jumper and second Vice President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Rosa Collins-Okah, said that the board’s dissolution on June 1 would pave the way for a ‘smooth and credible’ polls.
The tenure of the current AFN board, led by Tonobok Okowa, will expire next month after a four-year term, which started in 2021. Collins-Okah, a three-time national triple jump champion, who also emerged the National Sports Festival triple jump champion at Makurdi ‘96, told The Guardian during a telephone chat from her base in Spain, yesterday, that the current AFN board does not deserve to stay in office a day longer from June 1.
“I am the second vice president of the AFN, and our tenure will expire this June. I want the National Sports Commission (NSC) to dissolve the board immediately we enter June because by then, the National Sports Festival holding in Abeokuta would have ended and there is no need to stay a day longer in office.
“Some board members are screaming, trying to use every means to twist the process and bulldoze their way back into the board. A lot of people are after their personal gains, but they do not have the interest of Nigeria athletics at heart. All that will end soon. The NSC should dissolve the board and put in place the process for a smooth and credible election. I trust the leadership of the NSC. They are doing a great job already and I want them to take the bold step by wading aside these desperate Nigerians whose major interest is to reap from athletics without giving anything in return. As a former athlete, I know the feelings of the young athletes. This board should go on June 1,” she stated.
Former national sprint champion, Gabriel Okon, who foresees a tough struggle for membership of the next board, said that the South South zone will be the battle ground in both the AFN zonal and presidential elections.
The AFN board had picked June 14 to 16 as time for the zonal elections and May 30 as its elective congress, but the NSC stopped it on the ground that it was too close to the commencement date of the 22nd National Sports Festival currently underway in Ogun State.
Speaking with The Guardian at the weekend in Abeokuta, Okon said: “We were preparing for the AFN zonal election before it was postponed. The South-South zone will be the battle ground in both the zonal and presidential election.
“There are four candidates already slugging it out to pick one ticket from the South-South zone into the AFN board. Apart from myself, there is Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, Itiako Malik Ikpokpo and one other person from Bayelsa State. And in the AFN presidential race, it is another tough one for the south-south zone,” he said.
The current AFN President, Tonobok Okowa, is being challenged by the duo of Itiako Ikpokpo and Omatseye Nesiama (all from South-South zone) in the coming presidential election.
