‘Clear Conflict of Interest’: Former AFN Board Member Demands Aghazu’s Resignation

Former Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) board member Dare Esan has intensified calls for the resignation of the federation’s Second Vice President, Aku Aghazu, arguing that her multiple roles across both government and federation structures violate global athletics governance standards and create unavoidable conflicts of interest.

Aghazu currently serves as a senior official within the National Sports Commission (NSC), the government body responsible for supervising all national sports federations, including the AFN.

At the same time, he holds several influential positions within the AFN: he is the Second Vice President, chairs the federation’s Road Race Committee, and sits on the Elite Podium Performance Committee, a high‑level body created by the NSC to shape athlete development, funding, and performance pathways.

Esan says this combination of roles is incompatible with the World Athletics Integrity Code of Conduct, which emphasises independence, neutrality, and the avoidance of situations where an official’s duties in one organisation may influence, or appear to influence, decisions in another.

According to the Code, officials must avoid ‘any situation that could reasonably be perceived as compromising impartiality or independence.’

It also warns against ‘dual loyalty’ scenarios in which an individual holds positions in both a regulatory body and the organisation being regulated.

The Code further stresses that officials must not be placed in roles where they ‘exercise supervisory authority over themselves or over bodies in which they hold executive responsibility.’

Esan argues that Aghazu’s presence on the NSC’s Elite Podium Performance Committee is particularly problematic because the committee makes decisions that directly affect the AFN, the same federation where Aghazu is an executive.

‘You cannot sit on a government committee that allocates elite athlete funding and performance programmes, and at the same time serve as Second Vice President of the AFN,’ Esan said.

‘It is a structural conflict of interest. The World Athletics governance code is clear about this. For the sake of transparency and integrity, Aku Aghazu should resign from the AFN board.’

He added that Aghazu’s role as chairman of the AFN Road Race Committee further deepens the conflict, as the committee oversees event approvals and standards that may also intersect with NSC oversight.

World Athletics’ ethics framework makes clear that even the appearance of conflict can undermine trust in a federation’s decision‑making. The Code states that officials must avoid circumstances that ‘could be perceived as creating undue influence or unfair advantage.’

Esan insists that Nigeria must align with international best practices, where government officials do not hold executive positions in national federations, and federation executives do not sit on government created committees that influence their own operations.

‘This is not about personalities,’ Esan said. ‘It is about governance. Nigeria cannot be the exception to global standards.’

Esan also frowns at Aghazu’s usurpation of the power of the AFN President, Tonobok Okowa as the lead voice of the Federation.

‘The AFN Constitution (2023 as amended) is clear about who is the Federation’s lead voice but what we wake up to see on a regular basis in the second Vice President making policy statements which is a violation of article 14.1.1.b.

This is a clear violation and an impeachable offence unless she was and is permitted to do so by the AFN boss,’ added Esan.

Esan had once queried Aghazu’s eligibility as a board member as she was neither a known philanthropist, a corporate sponsor of AFN nor a former member of the Federation’s Executive Committee.

The AFN eligibility criteria as outlined in Article 6 of the AFN Constitution titled: Composition makes provision for ‘One Representative from the Corporate Sponsors/Ex-Officio/Philanthropists’ to be on the board of the AFN. This is how Aghazu got on the Board of the AFN.

As of publication time, neither the AFN nor the National Sports Commission has issued an official response to the concerns raised.