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By ROMANUS UGWU, Abuja
MINISTER of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, yester- day constituted electoral committeesforthe National Sports Federation elections, charging the committee to deliver a transparent and credible poll.
Speaking while inaugurating the 93 electoral committees, Dalung warned that conducting elections require courage, resilience and integrity.
The Minister, who listed some of the committees’ mandate to include verification of candidates, conduction of elections for the zonal, vice presidents and presidents of the federations, said that a candidate could only be disqualified base on the elections guideline.
In his words: “The electoral officers must have the courage to do what is right, fair and just. He much have the resilience to weather the storm of criticism and unfair allegations.
“It is important and critical that we get this elections right. It is the foundation of the change we are trying to establish. The outcome will either justify or vilify our intentions. It is the credibility of the process that will vindicate our stand to democratise the Sports Federations.
“Apart from the transition of the old tradition where 13 persons were appointed into the boards, the expansion of the electoral college from 13 to 54 presents its unique challenges. If a process is fair, transparent and credible, both winners and losers will have a sense of victory. So, I charge you all to ensure that we achieve our collective objectives of delivering a fair, transparent and credible election.
“It is on this context that I congratulate each of the members of the committee for their nomination.
This indicates that the hope and belief of the nation on your abilities to deliver this assignment right,’’ Dalung said.
Dalung further noted that the National Sports Federations are responsible for the growth of their sport and were expected to work with their respective affiliated sports associations and private initiative for the overall development of their sports.
“This makes it imperative to get the leadership of our sports federations rights as the existing electoral process is usually manipulated, not transparent and not in line with international best practice. We hope that with these elections, all these will be changed and we are counting on the members if the electoral committee to make this happen,’’ he said.
Similarly, Dalung also inaugurated a seven-member Electoral Appeal Committee to look into all complaints on the election, urging members to be fair, transparent and unbiased in the discharge
of their duties, just as he quipped: “You are expected to imbibe unbiased virtues in the discharge of your duties.”
The President of the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC) Habu Gumel, also advised the electoral committee members to conduct elections in a democratic way as Nigeria would be monitored by international bodies and observers.
