Di Nigeria Basketball Federation dey enter another election wey crisis don cover, as stakeholders dey accuse president Musa Kida say e dey manipulate di process to install im preferred candidate. Di grievances dey echo one long-running power struggle wey start for 2017 when di sports ministry, wey Solomon Dalung dey lead dat time, oversee two parallel elections wey produce two rival boards — one wey Kida dey lead and another one wey Tijjani Umar dey lead.
Kida, wey enta office afta dat disputed process, now dey chase third term, di same length of tenure wey e don argue before say e suppose disqualify Umar. According to di source, e don fall out with most of im board members and majority of stakeholders, but e dey allegedly engineer di removal of state basketball association chairmen wey resist am and replace dem with im own supporters, wit di help of state governors. For states wey e no fit influence governors, dem dey comot voting rights from chairmen and transfer am to unknown people.
Basketball stakeholders say di National Sports Commission, wey dey responsible to oversee sports federations, dey turn blind eye to di alleged scheming. Di NSC director general Bukola Olopade respond to criticism through WhatsApp, ask di writer to ask again about di role wey NSC don play, but e no clarify which steps dem dey take to guarantee free and fair vote. NSC chairman Shehu Dikko no don publicly engage on di issue.
Stakeholders argue say any gain wey dem achieve under Umar between 2013 and 2017 don erode under Kida, and dem dey point to D'Tigresses recent crash for World Cup as evidence say performance dey decline. Dem want NSC to act before di federation fall inside another cycle of dispute wey go damage di sport further.
