*NSC DG Bukola Olopade
Tomorrow’s planned election to choose the representative of the National Association of Women in Sports (NAWIS) on the Board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has devolved into controversy and infighting.
Some aggrieved members of NAWIS have called on the leadership of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC) not to recognise the election slated for Abuja on Monday if former athlete, Fatima Yusuf based in the United States of America is elected.
Initially slated for Zaria, the election was supposed to be between Maria Wophil, a former member of the board of AFN; USA-based Yusuf; Chinedu Odozor, a former athlete and Nneka Anibeze, a sports journalist.
But on the eve of the election, Wophil was disqualified by the NAWIS screening committee for not being an active member and for non-payment of dues.
But some members accused the leaders, whom they say belong to the ‘Zaria Mafia’, of disqualifying Wophil because they saw her as a threat to their preferred candidate, Yusuf.
According to some of the members who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the election guideline is clear on Yusuf’s ineligibility to contest.
“The guideline is very clear that whoever wants to contest to be a member of the board must be resident in Nigeria for at least six months before the election. Yusuf is a resident in the USA, and so allowing her to contest is a clear violation of the guideline.
“They are playing games. The reason why Wophil was disqualified was that she is the only person who can beat Yusuf.
“Secondly, they don’t like her because she is close to Toyin Aluko, the leader of the Association of Former Female Athletes in Nigeria (AFFAN). Everybody knows Wophil and Aluko are very close; they both retired as directors in the NSC, and because of the rivalry between NAWIS and AFFAN, once you are close to Aluko, they see you as an enemy.”
The NAWIS members further alleged that the ‘Zaria Mafia’ had been calling delegates, promising them free accommodation, feeding and travelling allowances to vote for Yusuf.
“They put all sorts of obstacles in the way of contestants so that Yusuf will be the sole candidate. Hitherto, the NAWIS election form was N20,000, they increased it to N250,000; they moved the election to Zaria before the NSC forced them to bring it to Abuja; the last straw was the disqualification of Wophil because of an ineligible Yusuf. We are calling on NSC and NOC to act, if Wophil is disqualified because she has not been paying dues and is not an active member, Yusuf too should also be disqualified because she is not a resident in Nigeria. If they get away with this, all of us will move to AFFAN’’ said an aggrieved member.
