The leadership crisis rocking the Athletics Federation of Nigeria is set to continue as the two factions tussling for the presidency of the sport federation are ready to conduct parallel elections today.
While AFN stakeholders sympathetic to the embattled factional president, Engineer Ibrahim Shehu Gusau are in Kebbi State for the elective congress, those said to be backed by the Federal Ministry of Sports are in Abuja for another election.
It will be recalled when the leadership crisis between Gusau and Hon. Olamide George who had the backing of the Federal Ministry of Sports refused to abate, a two-day conflict resolution meeting between representatives of both the Confederation of Athletics Federation (CAA) and World Athletics (who joined via zoom) and members of the board of the AFN elected in 2017 held at ANOCA office in Abuja and it was resolved among other things that elections into the board of the AFN shall be held on June 14.
However, indications are strong that rather than settle once and for all the leadership crisis in the AFN, the election which the Abuja meeting recommended will end up as a farce.
This is because contrary to the resolution by the peace meeting that the 2017 constitution of the AFN should govern the June 14 election, Gusau is bent on using the amended constitution of August 2020 to organise the election.
And having sensed that he is no longer the choice of the sports ministry for the parallel election to be held in Abuja, George has since turned a ‘rebel’ as he issued a statement last Friday discrediting the electoral process.
Furthermore, some of the zonal elections conducted are being trailed by controversies which will linger even after today’s elections.
Consequently, athletics stakeholders are waiting with bated breath to see what will be the outcome of the elections in Kebbi and Abuja.
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