AFN under fire for alleged sabotage of Seye Ogunlewe’s eligibility for World Athletics Championships in Tokyo
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, is under fire from stakeholders and members of the sporting community following the exclusion of elite sprinter Seye Ogunlewe from the mandatory anti-doping testing pool, a move that effectively bars him from representing Nigeria at the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo even if he had secured the entry standard for the 100m event.
Ogunlewe, who clocked an impressive 10.03 seconds in Switzerland last year, ranked as the fourth fastest Nigerian sprinter in 2024 behind Favour Ashe (9.94), Godson Oghenebrume (9.96) and Kanyinsola Ajayi (10.00).
Despite his top four status in the 100m event last year, he was omitted from the list of athletes selected for the testing pool, a prerequisite for international eligibility under Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU, regulations.
Nigeria, classified as a Category A nation due to its high doping risk, is required to ensure that all athletes undergo a minimum of three no-notice, out-of-competition tests over a 10-month period prior to major championships.
Ogunlewe’s exclusion from this process, while athletes with significantly slower times, such as Joshua Caleb (10.41 seconds), were included, has raised serious questions about the integrity and transparency of the selection process.
This development follows a troubling pattern. Ogunlewe was dropped from Nigeria’s Paris 2024 Olympic team despite fulfilling all eligibility conditions first set by World Athletics, and also the AFN at the Nigeria Track and Field Championships.
In his place, athletes who failed to meet the standards set by the Federation were selected. Even when one of those athletes sustained an injury at the training camp for Team Nigeria in Germany, the AFN retained him on the team rather than correcting the injustice.
He went to Paris as a spectator when a fitter and disciplined athlete was deliberately left out.
Sources close to the matter suggest Ogunlewe’s real offense was his insistence on fairness and due process, a stance that appears to have triggered retaliatory actions from within the federation.
His exclusion from the testing pool is widely viewed as a calculated move to prevent his participation on the global stage.
When the list of probable athletes for the World Championships was released by the AFN and the National Anti-Doping Committee (NADC), Ogunlewe’s name was conspicuously missing.
The seven athletes listed for the 100m event included Alaba Akintola, Itsekiri Usheoritse, Favour Ashe, Kanyinsola Ajayi, Adekalu Fakorede, Udodi Onwuzurike (AIU RTP), and Joshua Caleb.
As expected, Ogunlewe was also missing from the final list of 22 athletes selected across all track and field disciplines.
Attempts to reach AFN Secretary General Israel Inwang and Technical Director Gabriel Okon for comment have been unsuccessful. However, both officials were not in office when these alleged sabotage was performed.
Samuel Onikeku, one of the two officials a Ministerial Panel found culpable in not registering Favour Ofili for the 100m event at Paris Olympics despite the athlete qualifying for it, was the Technical Director at the time the list was compiled.
Athletics stakeholders are now calling on the National Sports Commission and the Presidency to launch an independent investigation into the AFN’s conduct.
