Chairman Gombe State Athletics Association, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe, has charged the Tonobok Okowa-led board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to amicably resolve their internal cRisis before it is too late.
Gombe gave the warning in a statement issued at the weekend, saying members of the AFN Congress have taken keen interest in the in-fighting going on among board members and want it resolved in the interest of athletes and other stakeholders.
“We members of Congress of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria have been most tolerant with the Board, as at today, the Board have placed the entire federation into Moral and Credibility Crisis.
“We (Congress) have kept quiet not because we don’t know what to do, not because we are cowards, not because we don’t know our authority but we tried to give peace a chance to see if the Board could retract its steps but the more we look the other way, the more the Board’s in-fighting continues unabated,” Gara Gombe said.
According to him, should the Board delay in fixing itself, there would be consequences of unimaginable magnitude from Congress members.
“The stinking smell of corruption, lack of accountability, transparency, unity, Good governance oozing out from the Board of AFN is not only unimaginable but unprecedented. Very soon we (Congress) will give the Board an ultimatum to fix all this mess going on among themselves, failure to do that will amount to a unified and sustained revolt from the Congress in view of taking back our Federation.
“Be informed that not all Congress members the board can influence or throw crumbs at. Many of us are well established and comfortable.
“We all know how some of us became Board Members, we also know your contributions to Athletics or lack of it but above all, we are the Congress and Authority lies with us. Those who have ears let them hear,” Gombe added.
The AFN board has been bedeviled with lingering recently as some aggrieved members accusing the AFN leadership of over-protecting the secretary general, Rita Mosindi, who was allegedly indicted in AFN audit report to have mismanaged the federation’s funds.
Gara Gombe is therefore, demanding quick resolution of the issues before it begins to affect set goals of the federation.
