NAN-S-4
Elections
By Kemi Ajayi
Lagos, April 13, 2017 (NAN) Solomon Dalung, the Minister for Youths and Sports on Thursday said that, elections into the various sport federations in the nation would not be business as usual this time.
Dalung made the assertion at a one-day forum on national sports federation election guidelines in Abuja.
He said that the ministry would constitute an electoral committee that would consist of reputable citizens, within and outside the sports sector to ensure neutrality.
“The national sports federations play a key role in the sports development process; they are responsible for promoting and coordinating the development of the various sports in the country.
“In Nigeria, our national sports federations have not been able to deliver on this aspiration because of many reasons, principal among which is their flawed corporate governance structure.
“Also of serious concern are allegations that some federations are involved in visa racketeering at the expense of striving for medals at international competitions.
“Elections in the past have been mired in controversy, with various accusations of manipulation and connivance of sports authorities.
“But today, we are witnessing a different thing entirely and are also active participants and co-architects or reforms we need to undertake,’’ he said.
The minister added that there would not be any government nominee to any sports federation.
He added that the ministry was fully committed to the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari in reforming the sports sector. (NAN)
KOA/ERO/PDE
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara//Peter Ejiofor)