In maintaining its initial stance of July 2017, in absence of an amicable resolution, the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) has proffered for a fresh election into the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.
In a letter signed by FIBA Secretary General, Patrick Bauman and addressed to NBBF secretary, Chimezie Asiegbu, Engineer Musa Kida (NBBF president), Tijani Umar (former NBBF president) and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, FIBA said the decision became necessary as the June 12and 13 elections held in Kano and Abuja respectively failed to meet its statutes.
Despite the call for a fresh election, the apex basketball body said, “Communication still to be maintained with Engineer Musa Kida, Babatunde Ogunade and Chimezie Asiegbu until such time as the new elections are held as per our letter of 26 July, 2017.
Arising from its February 10 meeting held at FIBA secretariat in Switzerland, the body noted that, “In the absence of an amicable solution between the parties, the Executive Committee has decided that new elections shall be held.”
FIBA which maintained its earlier stance of not recognizing both elections pointed out that it will work with relevant stakeholders to amend and develop the NBBF statutes so that such statutes fully comply with all relevant and applicable regulations, primarily the FIBA General Statutes, and guarantee complete independence of the election with no influence from third parties.
“FIBA will determine when the NBBF statutes are compliant per the above and reserves the right to oversee parts or the entirety of the elections process”, the letter continued.
Meanwhile Engineer Kida has maintained that the NBBF will cooperate with FIBA to come up with acceptable statutes for basketball administration in Nigeria in line with FIBA’s provision.
“Going by the letter received this morning, FIBA was silent about the date for a new election as they unequivocally stated that they will maintain communications with the Musa Kida led board. We as a responsible organization with a passion for basketball development in Nigeria will work closely with FIBA during this critical phase, forging a way forward for basketball in Nigeria.”
He maintained that the continued impasse has affected the expected growth of basketball especially the various national leagues and capacity building programs for coaches and technical officials as he called on all stakeholders to exercise more patience.
“This has dragged on for so long, but we know that this process is necessary if we want to secure the future of basketball and generations unborn.
While reacting to the development,the Tijani Umar led board of the NBBF has welcomed the decision of the Executive Committee of FIBA for a fresh election to settle the lingering leadership dispute of the federation based on the report of its 3-man fact finding team.
“However,as a body that respects the reconciliation effort of FIBA and having consistently identified a new election as the only way for a fair and equitable settlement of the dispute ,we accept the directive of FIBA for a fresh election based on the NBBF Statutes and overseen by FIBA without interference from any third party”,Umar said.
The group thus commend FIBA for accepting to oversee parts or entirety of the new election process as it would forestall interference by any third party and ensure the independence of the NBBF as enshrined in the FIBA Statutes.
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