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The feud between the ministry of youth and sports and the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, AFN over the leadership structure of the latter may have taking a twist as the former Tuesday morning nullified the appointment of Mr. Similaye Young Pepple as Director-General of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.

The nullification of thew appointment was contained in a released by the ministry signed by the Director of Press, Lere-Adams, A.B.

The stamen notes that “As part of Federal Government’s effort to sanitize and restore order into the myriad of issues besetting the smooth operations of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), the appointment of Mr. Similaye Young Pepple as Director-General of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has been nullified by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Develpt.; which it considered illegal.”

The stamen further notes that “The Ministry in its capacity of supervisory role over the National Sports Federations under its purview, set up a Ministerial Panel of Inquiry on AFN issues to investigate certain misdeeds and proffer solutions going forward.

“To this end, acting upon the recommendations of the Panel, the Ministry hereby makes it categorically clear that the Statue of the AFN and the National Sports Federation Code of Governance 2017, does not provide for the position of Director-General in any of the enabling documents.

“Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) cancelled and nullified the alleged appointment of Mr. Similaye Young Pepple as Director-General of AFN, more so, not being  supported by any extant laws or regulations whatsoever.

“The Code of Governance supports Secretary –General (who has already been  duly appointed by the Ministry) and not the office of a  Director-General that does not exist in the CODE OF GOVERNANCE.”

The release added that “The AFN, stakeholders and the general public is hereby advised to please note and any further transaction is at the individual’s responsibility.”

It could be recalled that the ministry of the leadership of the AFN led by Ibrahim Gusau has been in each other’s throat for over a year now with the case going to Court of Appeal where Gusau had won the ministry.

The ministry, it was understood is on the verge of appealing the case at the Supreme Court.

Athletics followers are concerned that the unending misunderstanding between the AFN and the ministry could affect negatively the performance of Nigeria athletes when they take to the track in next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.