AFN 2025 Elections: Iheme floors Okorie, Olu Sule beats Mantu
Victor Okorie and Manta Muhammad Haruna, two of the strongest supporters of the outgoing President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, Tonobok Ojuru Okowa, have been defeated in the zonal elections to decide who represents the Southeast and North Central zones respectively on the board of the Federation.
Okorie, who was facing serious credibility issues before the elections bothering his bankruptcy declaration a few years ago in the United States of America, USA, lost 3-2 to Abia state athletics association chairman, Innocent Ugochukwu Iheme, father of Divine Iheme, the 15-year-old wonder boy who has taken British and World Athletics by storm with his eye-catching performances.
Iheme, a former Nigeria international, will now be the Southeast representative on the AFN Board, replacing Okorie who was the Performance Director of the outgoing board.
In North Central, Oluyemi Sule, three-time Nigeria triple jump champion and African Games and African Championships medalist, floored Manta, an inactive member of the outgoing board of the AFN.
In the elections conducted on Tuesday, the first round of voting ended 3-3 prompting a second round where Sule won 4-2.
In four the four zonal elections concluded so far, three people believed to be independent minded have emerged board members signaling a new beginning for the AFN. They are Lekan Soetan (South West), Iheme and Sule.
The North West election held on Monday is inconclusive and observers are confident Sunday Adeleye, a former technical director of the AFN, will emerge in the run.
