From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Members of the Kebbi State Football Association (FA) have elected Alhaji Abubakar Chika Ladan as the State Chairman of the Association alongside Muhammed Tukur Hassan as the Vice Chairman.
The chairman of the electoral committee, Muhammed Sani Matseri, who declared the results of the election, supervised by the Head of Member Association and Special Duties of NFF, Abuja, Alhaji Ali Abubakar, announced that the contestants scored 25 votes of all the delegates across the LGAs of the state.
Other members elected into the Board members including Samaila Yunusa, Faruk Abdullahi, Muhammed Bello Jibo, Aminu Musa Yeldu, Haliru S Haliru and Yakub Adamu Yauri who only scored 24 votes.
The newly elected State Executive was sworn in immediately by a Lawyer, Barrister Aminu Saidu Diri, from the State Ministry of Justice.
In his acceptance speech, the newly elected state chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Chika Ladan, disclosed that the FA state Executive had succeeded in establishing football academics in the state, recruiting the best Footballers in playing in the national teams as well as in the European Leagues.
He said that he had informed the Governor of the need to build more stadiums for the training of the Footballers to complement the FIFA Stadium which is 95 per cent completed along Jega Road.
Ladan disclosed five centres have been suggested to the state government where a stadium needed to be constructed for the training of Footballers including Jega, Birnin Kebbi, Argungu, Yauri and Zuru.
He promised the delegates to build upon their achievements recorded in the last four years, stressing that their target was to ensure Kebbi youths dominated the national teams of Nigeria as well as other leagues within and outside the country.
Earlier, the representative of NFF, Alhaji Ali Abubakar, who is the Head of the Member Association and Special Duties, commended the State FA executive for the achievements they have recorded in the last four years and stressed that other States should emulate them.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Alhaji Usman Umar Ladan who lauded the FA executive for remarkable achievements recorded under the last administration, said the state government would continue to collaborate with the Association to develop the football game and other sports in the state.