By Francis Ajuonuma
Engineer Musa Kida led board of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has denounced the setting up of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to oversee the administration of the basketball in the country.

The Sports Ministry had on May 23 appointed a 10-man Interim Management Committee to take charge of the affairs of the NBBF following the decision of the federal government to pull out Nigerian teams from all international competitions due to the leadership tussle that has engulfed the NBBF following the re-election of Eng. Kida on January 31 at its Elective Congress in the election well supervised by the Federations of International Basketball Association (FIBA).

Reacting to the sports ministry action, the Kida-led NBBF in a statement made available to TNSports yesterday, described the move as an abuse of power and witch-hunting.

According to the NBBF, the idea of an IMC is alien to the NBBF Statutes as approved by the same Ministry of Youths & Sports Development, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), and the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA), under which the affairs of the Federation are governed. It further violates FIBA Statutes and Regulations and a deliberate usurpation of power that has made Nigeria a laughing stock amongst basketball-playing nations.

The statement reads in parts: “The idea of an IMC is alien to the NBBF Statutes as approved by the same Ministry of Youths & Sports Development, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), and the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA), under which the affairs of the Federation are governed. It further violates FIBA Statutes and Regulations and a deliberate usurpation of power that has made Nigeria a laughing stock amongst basketball-playing nations.

“The IMC is not acceptable to NBBF because we reserve the right, as a properly elected body, in line with the 2019 NBBF Constitution, domiciled with FIBA, NOC, and the FMY&SD to implement the mandate entrusted to us by the Basketball stakeholders in Nigeria.

“This move is counterproductive and an endless race within a circle that leads nowhere.

“It is a blatant abuse of power and an archaic move to repress the Constitution of the NBBF, as ratified by congress, which is the highest decision-making organ of the Federation, as represented by all the states and relevant constituencies in Nigeria.

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“The NBBF, therefore, denounces the Interim Management Committee (IMC) set up by the Federal Ministry, as this action is not in line with the provisions of the NBBF-approved statutes, which the Ministry vetted, accepted and a copy domiciled with them.
“The NBBF has exercised enough patience and attended several dialogues and peace talks for the sake of basketball. But it seems some persons within the Ministry are hell-bent on destroying what Nigerian Basketball has built since the creation and admission of the NBBF as a member of FIBA.

“The latest move is not to save basketball, but a selfish agenda to cripple the sport for reasons best known to such persons.

Meanwhile, the South-East Basketball Association (SEBA) has threatened to boycott the sports ministry’s programmes in protest of the federal government’s decision to pull the country out of all international basketball competitions in the next two years.

The South-East Basketball Association categorically condemned the self-imposed suspension from international competitions, saying the action is politically motivated and a conspiracy against the Kida led board of the NBBF.

The reservation is contained in a statement signed by SEBA, Secretary Osondu Ngwude yesterday and made available to the media reads as follow:

“It’s a known fact that the Nigerian national team is comprised mostly of players of South-East extraction, and without any contradiction, the South-East Basketball Association is 100 percent behind the Nigeria Basketball Federation and its President, Musa Ahmadu Kida, who have in four years built a basketball dynasty with no parallel in the history of our game.

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“It is no coincidence that in the past four years, Nigeria’s D’Tigers and D’Tigress have become the two best teams in Africa and the top 10 in the world, which begs the question, why did the Minister, Sunday Dare, suspend the best sports federation in Nigeria? The only federation to qualify the men’s and women’s teams for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, built the most robust grassroots program in the history of the game with the first-ever division 1 and 2 tournaments sponsored by TotalEnergies Nigeria.

“It has also been the first-ever time the South-East as a block participated in any grassroots event and the first-ever time a South-East team, “Coal City Miners”, featured in the premier league, “The President’s Cup”.

“We in the South-East believe the actions of the minister are politically motivated and a witch hunt, not a sports-related decision, because it makes absolutely no sense and lacks any justification that has been cooked up as a defense to the suspension.

“Moving forward, we in the South-East will not support or participate in any of the “manufactured” programmes from the federal ministry of sports.