Sports
Ebonyi Sports Ministry Faults Ogba’s Re-Election
The Ebonyi Ministry of Youth Development and Sports on Monday in Abakaliki said the state Football Association (FA) election held on Saturday was faulty.
Tidesports source reports that the election had seen the return of Sen. Obinna Ogba (PDP–Ebonyi Central) as a re-elected chairman
The furore generated by the election, especially the candidate’s emergence after a reign as chairman for more than 10 years, among other issues had led to a discontent.
This situation was in spite of the election’s conduct by officials of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Jonathan Okoronkwo, the ministry’s permanent secretary however, told newsmen on Monday that the election did not follow the stipulated guidelines for the conduct of state FA elections.
He said the ministry had sought the election’s postponement from the NFF as recommended by the review committee it set up and which he headed.
“We discovered that the electoral committee did not offer the contestants a `level-playing ground’ to contest, while the manner in which the delegates (electorate) emerged was faulty.
“The committee profiled the delegates and discovered that they are not engaged in football administration as stipulated in the guidelines and one of them belonged to a club owned by an interested party in the elections.
“There is no way such a person can be an unbiased voter and we further discovered that the electoral committee was set up in 2014.
“This electoral committee oversaw the 2015 state FA election and it is then clear that it has overstayed its required tenure of four years,” the permanent secretary said.
He further noted that the election was supposed to have been held at the Pa Ngele Oruta Stadium in Abakaliki but it was instead held inside a hotel in the town.
“The electoral guidelines stipulate that representatives of the ministry should observe and supervise the election and this fact is even contained in the programme of events for the election,’’ Okoronkwo added.
He then said the sports ministry would properly review events surrounding the conduct of the election, while advising aggrieved contestants to seek redress at the appropriate quarters.
The permanent secretary also faulted claims by NFF officials that the request for the election’s postponement amounted to interference by government, noting that such an assertion was “ill-informed’’.
“The ministry provides the logistics for the FA to operate in the state, such as office accommodation, among others, while the FA secretary is an appointee of government.
“These facts will not be seen as interference, but when the government insists that the right things be done to improve football in the state, it is termed interference” he said.
Chidi Okenwa, a member of NFF’’s Executive Committee who supervised the election, had said the federation viewed the request by the Ebonyi sports ministry as government interference.
He said it was an interference in the affairs of the FA board and congress in the state.
“The appeals committee has complied with the provisions of the Ebonyi FA statutes and guidelines for elections into the executive board and standing on this platform we are empowered to monitor this election,” Okenwa had said.
Chairman of the state FA Electoral Committee, Onyebuchi Ekuma, had said during the election that the committee was properly constituted while the elected officials satisfied all requirements to contest the election.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor
