Sports ministry dissolves AFN board

The board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has been dissolved by the federal ministry of youth and sports development.

The dissolution was announced in a statement by Joshua-Akanji, the aide to Sunday Dare, the minister of youth and sports development, on Monday.

The AFN has been going through a leadership crisis since 2019, prompting the African and world athletic bodies to intervene at various stages.

Some of the leaders of the federation also alleged the federal government interference as the source of the crisis.

But in the statement, Joshua-Akanji said the dissolution was triggered upon the expiration of the board term in office.

It added that the AFN had at its extraordinary congress held in Abuja on June 13, asked the ministry to invoke Article 10.4 of the AFN constitution and dissolve the outgoing board.

“Pursuant to Article 10.4 of the 2017 Constitution of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, the Ministry hereby dissolves the board of the AFN. The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development understands that the AFN will hold an elective congress in Abuja on Monday,” the statement read.

“We have advised that the elections should be organised in accordance with the 2017 Constitution of the AFN as contained in the agreement reached at the reconciliation meeting held in Abuja last April and brokered by the Confederation of African Athletics and World Athletics.”

The ministry also called on delegates at the elective congress to conduct themselves in a manner that will unite the federation.

In April, TheCable had reported how Dare dissolved all sports federations boards in Nigeria — at about the same time when the rift between the ministry and AFN cost the country its spots at the world athletics (WA) relays.

Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau, factional president of AFN, had warned that the sports ministry’s directive might incur the wrath of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and by extension prevent Nigeria from participating in Tokyo later this year.