Federation Elections: Ahmedu Drags Minister, NSC, NBBF to Court

Disenchanted by the manner all the relevant appellate sporting agencies have handled their petitions over elections into the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Col. Sam Ahmedu (rtd) and five others including Osita Nwachukwu representing South East, have dragged the principal actors including; the Sports Ministry, National Sports Commission and the NBBF to court. In the papers filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja Monday the Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Sport Commission, Dr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba, Tijani Umar, Mukhtar Kaleh and Patrick Omorodion were served to appear in court on Thursday, 17th October 2013. The plaintiffs according to the writ of summon, are praying the court to make a declaration that the exclusion of the Col Ahmedu (rtd) from the board elections of the Nigeria Basketball Federation was unlawful and that an order of perpetual injunction retraining the 4th defendant (Tijani Umar) from parading himself as president of the NBBF board and the 5th defendant (Mukhtar Kaleh) as the vice president of the board be made. The plaintiffs are also praying that the court grants an order nullifying the elections held on the 14th of May on grounds of non-compliance with the electoral guidelines; an order of the court directing the first, second and third defendants to conduct fresh elections into the NBBF board in strict compliance with the electoral guidelines and asking that the sum of N100, 000, 000. 00 are granted them for general damages against the defendants jointly and severally. Aside these, the plaintiffs are requesting an order of perpetual injunction retraining the 6th defendant (Patrick Omorodion) from holding out himself as a member of the NBBF, 2013-2017 term of office. It was gathered that the four delegates representing 24 states out of the 36 states of the federation who worked out of the election had taken their petition to the seven-man elections appeals panel and the recommendation was that there was a burning zeal of all the petitioners and their desire to take the game to the next level, hence the committee chaired by Bar. A. U. Mustapha esq. appealed to the Honourable Minister to use his good offices to reconcile the petitioners with the other board members of NBBF with a view to foster healthy working relations among all the parties. Contacted on this latest development, Col Ahmedu, said after he and the five other stakeholders had painstakingly waited for a response from all the parties they petitioned but got no positive response hence their choice of a law court. Col Ahmedu stated that on May 27th, 2013, he submitted a petition to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and got a response on the 5th of June in a letter signed by the Secretary General, Honourable Tunde Popoola to that effect. “The NOC in their letter had stated that the matter was being looked into without any prejudice and that it would undergo due process. It sated however that the process it is undergoing is not inhibiting my rights reserved to progress the issue to other appellate body if I so desire. It is based on their advice that we have taken this option of the court,” he stated.