Ex-Delta Athletics Secretary Links Rampant Age Cheating to Past AFN Leadership

Former Secretary of the Delta State Athletics Association, Monday Akpoyibo, has alleged that Nigeria’s age falsification scandal in athletics became more rampant during the tenure of a former president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), whose name he chose not to disclose.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, Akpoyibo said the problem worsened because of a ‘win at all costs’ mentality.

‘It was during his tenure as AFN president that the issue of age falsification became rampant because of his desire to win at all costs,’ he stated.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) recently flagged close to 30 Nigerian athletes for age discrepancies over the past two years.

In a letter dated December 2, 2025, addressed to AFN President Tonobok Ojuru Okowa and Secretary General Israel Inwang, the AIU listed 17 athletes, 16 of whom competed at the African U18 and U20 Championships in Abeokuta, Ogun State, last year as having multiple dates of births.

Akpoyibo, however, was unequivocal about the roots of the problem. He argued that the federation’s failure to maintain a proper database of athletes has enabled falsification to thrive.

‘In the days of Oluyomi Adeyemi-Wilson and Dan Ngerem, they had zero tolerance for age cheats. If the AFN had a good database of its athletes, there would be no age falsification,’ he said.

He recalled that as far back as the 1973 National Sports Festival, athletes were categorized into U-13, Intermediate, and Men/Women classes, a system that made it difficult to cheat since federations had complete data on participants.

‘This system enabled athletes to grow from one class to another as they matured into the Games. So, it was pretty difficult to cheat since the federations had your data,’ Akpoyibo told the Guardian.

The revelations add to mounting pressure on the AFN to address what has become a recurring scandal in Nigerian athletics, with calls for stronger record-keeping and stricter enforcement to restore integrity to the sport.