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By Amaechi Agbo

The Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF have rejected the constitution of Interim Management Committee, IMC to oversee the affairs of basketball in the country.

The NBBF rejection was contained in a statement released on Wednesday.

The NBBF led by Musa Kida berated the ministry for going against the legally constituted board of the basket federation through an elective congress held on January 31, 2022 in Benin City, Edo State.

Recall that the ministry of youth and sports on Monday constituted an interim Management Committee, IMC to oversee the affairs of basketball in the country following two year suspension from international competitions clamped on basketball in Nigeria.

The NBBF, therefore in their release denounced “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 attention of the NBBF has been drawn to the Press Statement from the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development constituting an Interim Management Committee to run Basketball in Nigeria instead of the legally elected Board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) legitimately elected by its Congress on 31 January. The Elective Congress made up of the Certified Delegates of the NBBF held in Benin, Edo State elected its representatives in a free, fair, and transparent election with the firm approval of the Ministry.

“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 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 release stated Wednesday.

The release further noted that the IMC is not acceptable to NBBF because the board reserves “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.”

The release described the IMC as being “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.

“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.”

The NBBF therefore called on the ministry of youth and sports to reverse “this retrogressive” decision and respect their Press release of the 30 September 2021 affirming and spelling out the position of the Nigerian Government on the NBBF Electoral process.

“We urge all aggrieved stakeholders to channel their grievances through the NBBF for resolution, as the adequate mechanism for conflict resolution is inbuilt in the 2019 approved NBBF constitution.

“We assure all Nigerians that we are committed to carrying on the processes of developing the game of Basketball in Nigeria. All genuine stakeholders willing to contribute their quota to the growth and development of the game of Basketball in Nigeria will also not be left out,” the release concluded.

The 10-member Committee constituted by the ministry were given the mandate “to draw up programmes that will revamp basketball from the grassroots in Nigeria, revive its moribund domestic leagues and attract cooperate sponsors for the development of the game.”