Stakeholders loyal to Mark condemn FIBA’s endorsement of Kida

• Urge minister to reject alleged ‘arm twisters’

Some stakeholders loyal to factional president of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Oguche Mark, have condemned an alleged attempt by some ‘selfish individuals’ to arm twist Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, in the protracted crisis rocking the federation.

Speaking on the backdrop of a recent letter by world basketball governing body, FIBA, acknowledging the election of Musa Kida as NBBF president, the stakeholders said the international body has no right to decide the leadership of the country’s game, adding that Nigeria, as a sovereign country, should be left to decide, without interference by external forces, who leads basketball in the nation.

FIBA in the letter dated March 7, 2022, also congratulated the newly elected members of the Kida-led board, who got their four-year mandate in the NBBF electoral congress held in Benin on January 31, 2022.

According to the stakeholders in a statement signed by NBBF Players Representative, Stanely Gumut, queried the change of the agreed channel of communication between FIBA and the NBBF.

The statement read in part: “Our attention has been drawn to a letter, purportedly written by the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA), acknowledging one Engr. Musa Kida as president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) at a said election that took place in Benin, Edo State, on January 31.

“Having perused this phantom letter, as critical stakeholders of Nigerian basketball, laid it side by side with the undiluted facts of the NBBF elections of January 31, 2022 which happened in Abuja, it has become pertinent and imperative to clear the air regarding the antics of some selfish desperate individuals, who are hell bent on