There have been strong insinuations surrounding the involvement of the leadership of the National Sports Commission (NSC) in the conundrum arising from the conduct of the National Sports Federation Elections.
Stakeholders have accused the NSC of a deliberate ploy to impose certain candidates on the board of some of the federation, thereby truncating the already stipulated process for the polls.
It will be recalled that the National Sports Commission annulled the elections conducted by the Gymnastics and Judo Federations, alongside the Shooting Federation. The commission also suspended the zonal elections of the Boxing Federation with less than 24 hours to the polls without stating a reason for the cancelation. The respective elections are now scheduled for Saturday, October 18th, in Abuja, according to the NSC.
Some stakeholders who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being victimized accused the leadership of the National Sports Commission of taking over the responsibilities of the electoral committee as well as that of the National Olympic Committee (NOC).
” We can’t have an election that is dictated by just one man.” Some persons are manipulating the DG of National Sports Commission Bukola Olopade to influence the outcome of the polls in their favor. ”
“The zonal elections for the suspended polls ought to be held at the respective zones, but they have been forcefully moved to Abuja to ensure that some candidates are imposed on the respective Federations, this must not be allowed to happen”. The stakeholders said.
They further urged the leadership of the NSC not to allow themselves to be used by selfish aspirants who do not mean well for Nigerian sports as such will throw the respective Federations into crisis.
