Gusau, Adeleye disqualified as NOC holds Poll

The electoral committee of the Nigeria Olympic Committee on Wednesday disqualified Ibrahim Gusau and Sunday Adeleye from contesting Thursday’s (today) election,

Gusau and Adeleye were seeking election into the position of President and Treasurer of the NOC respectively.

According to the electoral committee headed by Ibrahim Galadima, the duo failed to meet the committee’s guidelines.

One of our correspondents learnt that the duo failed to present to the electoral committee a form duly signed by their federation president.

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While Adeleye presented his form signed by Gusau – a factional president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Gusau signed his own form as the AFN president.

“The documents presented by Ibrahim Gusau for the position of president and Sunday Adeleye for the post of treasurer did not meet the requirements as contained in the

Electoral Guidelines,” the Electoral Committee said in a statement.

Reacting to his disqualification, Adeleye said,

“Ibrahim Gusau remains the AFN president. The matter is in court, so why will somebody be parading himself as the president of the AFN?

“They took us to court in Lagos and they lost the case challenging our election.

“According to what we have by law and in the eyes of the law, Gusau is the AFN president, Tonobok Okowa cannot sign any document as the AFN president for Gusau, if that happens, it means we have recognised him as AFN president.

“The plot to disqualify us has been there since time immemorial.

“I challenge the electoral committee to come clean as we are going to resist every attempt and plan to allow one Tonobok Okowa from Delta State to vote tomorrow (today).

“It is unfortunate that despite being legitimate delegates the electoral committee decided to play politics with people who are at the departure lounge.”

When our correspondent contacted a member of the electoral committee, Dr. Lanre Glover, on the disqualified contestants, he said, “The election is tomorrow (today) and I’m not allowed to comment on such issues. We can chat after the elections.”

Glover, however, told The PUNCH that the committee would be transparent to ensure a credible electoral process.

He said, “The electoral process is straightforward with nine positions being contested for. The ballot is secret and at the end of voting, counting will be open. A total of about 43 votes are available, which includes all presidents of national federations and all Nigerian members of international federations.

“There are two possible outcomes; where there are multiple nominations, a candidate needs an absolute majority to emerge, which is 50 plus one. In the absence of that, a runoff will be done for the top-two candidates and the others will drop.

“Where there are two nominations, it will be a simple majority. However, if there is a tie twice, the incumbent automatically proceeds but if the two of them are newcomers, a toss of coin will decide the winner after two tie ballots. So, the system is open and the chairman of the electoral committee, Ibrahim Galadima, will announce the results officially.

“In terms of security, we have chosen a location that naturally provides security. The election will be held in the Government House conference room, so generally, the atmosphere will be peaceful.”

Prominent among the candidates seeking to fill the presidential seat is incumbent, Habu Gumel, who is contesting for a third consecutive term and fifth overall in office. He is being rivaled for the position by former sports minister Sani Ndanusa, following Gusau’s disqualification.