Guardian

Court Stops Inauguration Of Handball Board

THE men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force were mobilized Friday to ensure that law and order prevailed at the National Stadium, Abuja, where the Minister of Sports/Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), Bolaji Abdullahi, inaugurated the elected members of the boards of the non-concessioned sports federations.

The decision of the NSC to mobilize the large number of police officers, The Guardian gathered, was to avoid a repeat of the election day incident, where some aggrieved stakeholders tried to use the police to disrupt activities at the polls following the alleged omission of real stakeholders in the list of nominated members of some of the boards.

While inaugurating the boards, the minister reminded the federations’ presidents and board members of the big challenges to reposition the game in the country, while urging them to appoint their secretaries and technical directors.

He also warned them that the era of the Federal Government spoon-feeding the federations were over.

Abdullahi, however, disclosed that the commission has put on hold the inauguration of the Handball Federation board in obedience of a court injunction, which ordered its suspension pending the determination of a case filled by a group of stakeholders challenging the process that led to the re-election of the board’s president, Yusuf Dauda.

He added: “After the London Olympics, we came under tremendous pressure to disband all the boards of the sports federations, but we are committed to following due process and laid down procedure at all times and that was why we did not toe the part everyone wanted us to follow.

“That was why we waited till this time to allow the tenure of the incumbent to play out and organize the election at the appropriate time. By doing so, therefore, we have fulfilled our commitments to the laid down procedures and the interest of democracy we are trying to deepen in our country.

“Coming out of the Presidential retreat last October, the National Sports Commission was charged to derive a new vision for Nigerian sports development, especially in the areas of administration and management.

“This new vision lays emphasis on grassroots sports development and increasing mass participation in sports across the entire country. We hope that the development policy will be the priority of the sports federations in the country.

“It is our conviction that the increased grassroots participation is guaranteed to feed the elite athletes pipeline. The Presidential target for this administration for five gold medals in Rio 2016 Olympic Games and to improve on it in 2020 and beyond is very much achievable.