AFN Congress puts 2023 Constitution on hold, frees Nesiama, Gusau, others to seek a return to the Board
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, Congress held last month in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, has technically, through its resolution and communique issued at the end of the meeting, cancelled the tenure limitation hurdle placed in front of members who have served for three terms on the board of the Federation from a seeking a return.
Article 17 subsection 2 of the 2023 Constitution of the Federation (as amended) says :’The maximum number of terms of office for any member of the Executive Board is three (3) terms, and that of the President, the maximum term is three (3) terms.’
The AFN Congress has now put on hold the implementation of the 2023 Constitution via its resolution and communique issued at the end of the meeting.
The Congress, the highest decision-making arm of the AFN, decried the lack of record keeping at the Federation, especially relating to the purported amendments carried out on the 2017 Constitution.
It also decried the absence of a certified copy of the AFN Constitution as well as lack of properly signed and authenticated constitutional documents leading to multiple documents purporting to be the Constitution of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria in circulation.
‘The Congress noted with concern the report presented by the Federation’s Legal Adviser, Barr. Edokpayi Dele (SAN), regarding the unavailability of properly certified copies of previous constitutional amendments,’ the Communique read inter-alia.
The Congress, via the Communique, ‘resolved to give the Constitution Review Committee additional time to authenticate all relevant documents and present a comprehensive report at the next Congress.’
In the minutes of meeting of the Congress, it was also revealed some critical documents needed to authenticate the purported amendments carried out on the 2017 Constitution in January and May of 2023 AFN Congress meetings are missing.
Both ‘the minutes of the meeting where the amended Constitution was adopted as well as the official letter transmitting the amended Constitution to relevant authorities’ were missing.
Following the report by the Constitutional Review Committee, the Congress resolved to set aside the purported amendments made in 2023 and asked for more time to get all the missing documents, especially from Rita Mosindi, the immediate past Secretary General of the Federation under whose watch this reckless disregard for due process was carried out.
This technically means the trio of Ibrahim Shehu Gusau, the former President of the Federation, Tafida Gadzama, the outgoing First Vice President of the board and Omatseye Nesiama, also a member of the outgoing board are free to contest as the article inserted in the 2023 constitution via the purported amendments was not in the 2017 constitution of the AFN.
