The International Judo Federation (IJF) has advised the Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF) to consider conducting new elections open to all eligible candidates to bring sanity to the federation.

In a letter dated June 10 and addressed to the incumbent NJF President, Musa Oshodi, the IJF raised concerns about the NJF governance and electoral process, saying, “the most recent electoral process may not have been conducted in full compliance with the transparency and procedural requirements set out in IJF regulations.”

The IJF said: “Specifically, concerns have been raised regarding the accessibility of the process to all eligible stakeholders.

“The IJF has a responsibility to ensure that all member federations operate in accordance with the principles of good governance, transparency, and inclusiveness.

“First, we note that the NJF Statutes were transmitted to the IJF on September 30, 2025. Could you kindly confirm whether these Statutes were formally approved by the General Assembly?

“As you are aware, Statutes must be duly adopted by the General Assembly before they can serve as the legal basis for any electoral process.”

“We would also ask for an update on the current electoral situation within the NJF. Based on the information available to us, it appears that the conditions for a fully transparent and inclusive election may not yet have been met.

“We would therefore kindly invite you to consider organising a new election within the coming three months, in full compliance with the IJF regulations and the applicable national requirements.

“Until this process has been completed in due form, the IJF will not be in a position to formally recognise the current leadership for the purposes of official representation and participation in IJF activities.”

The IJF drew the NJF leadership’s attention to article 3.2 of the its statutes, which provides that “where a dysfunction affecting the proper functioning of a member federation is brought to the attention of the IJF, the IJF president may appoint a representative to conduct investigations, with the findings to be submitted to the IJF Executive Committee for appropriate action.

“We sincerely hope that it will not be necessary to engage this mechanism, and we are confident that the NJF will take the appropriate steps to address the situation.”

The Guardian recalls that the National Sports Commission in January tried to broker peace among the warring factions, with some of the aggrieved parties agreeing to work within the Musa Oshodi-led board. But things soon went awry when some of the stakeholders started claiming that the NJF leadership was not adhering to the terms of the peace pact.