10 months after, FG finally inaugurates NBBF board

Engr Musa Kida. Photo: NBBFONLINE

Minister charges Kida to begin constitution review, reconciliation moves

Ten months after the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) elections in Benin, which returned Musa Kida as president of the Federation, the Federal Government, yesterday inaugurated the Federation’s board.

Yesterday’s inauguration finally puts an end to the dispute over the authentic leadership of the body.

The Guardian recalls that Kida was re-elected as NBBF president for another four years in an election witnessed by international observers, including representatives of the world basketball ruling body, FIBA.

Kida’s victory was, however, challenged by another group, led by Igoche Mark, who claimed to have been elected as NBBF president in another election held on the same January 30 in Abuja. This led to a crisis that eventually stalled the government’s recognition of any faction as the authentic governing body for the sport.

The fall-out of the impasse was the withdrawal of Nigerian teams from international competitions, leading to FIBA replacing the women’s national team, D’Tigress, which had already qualified for the 2022 World Cup, with Mali’s women’s team.

However, the Federal Government recently announced that it has recognised Kida’s board as the authentic governing body for the sport in Nigeria, promising to inaugurate the board in due course.

Speaking while inaugurating the board at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, described the event as significant for the growth of basketball in Nigeria and a forward leap in the mandate of the Ministry in superintending and supporting federations for the development of Sports. He challenged the new board to embrace reconciliation and a