From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Stakeholders in Nigerian sports who converged in Abuja on Thursday voted overwhelmingly for the disqualification of presidents and vice presidents of sports federations who have served two terms.
The decision rules out big names like incumbent Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) President Engr. Habu Gumel, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) boss Solomon Ogba, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President Engr. Sani Ndanusa and Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) President Tijani Umar from contesting for the top seats when elections come up in June.
Deliberating on the eligibility for president and vice president in the new guideline, stipulating among others that those occupying the post of an international sports body shall not contest for the post of president and vice president of a national federation and those who have served two consecutive terms as president of their national federation shall not contest for the post of president of the federation, the stakeholders voted in support of it.
For a candidate to be eligible for membership of the board of a national sports federation, he or she shall hold an educational qualification not below the West Africa School Certificate (WASC) or its equivalent. He or she shall not be less than 30 or not more than 80 years of age as at the date of the election, except in the case of athletes’ representation who may be below 30 but not less than 21 years of age as at the time of the election.
“Any person occupying the post of president of an international sports body shall not contest for the post of president and vice president of a national sports federation. Those who have served two consecutive terms as president of their national sports federation shall not contest for the post of president of the federation,” he said.
While speaking during the meeting in Abuja, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Bar. Solomon Dalung, said: “I address you with delight as we stand on the threshold of history with the convening of this Stakeholders Forum on Election Guidelines, the first of its kind in the history of National Sports Federation Elections in Nigeria.
“I am particularly delighted because giving stakeholders the opportunity to craft the document that will guide Federation Elections is not only the right thing to do, but it also reaffirms the commitment of the Buhari Administration to reform the Sports sector,” he said.