Former chairman of the Gombe Football Association, Shuaibu Ahmed Gara-Gombe, has issued a stern warning to the Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, against interfering in the elections of various sports federations.
Gara-Gombe’s caution comes in response to Enoh’s recent threats to remove officials from these federations who, in his view, have failed to contribute positively to sports development, particularly in light of Nigeria’s poor performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Speaking to Channels Television on Tuesday, Gara-Gombe criticized Enoh’s approach.
While he supported the minister’s goal of placing capable individuals in key federation positions, he warned against direct interference in the electoral processes.
Such interference, Gara-Gombe suggested, could provoke the ire of international bodies to which the federations are affiliated.
He emphasized the need for ensuring competent leadership without disrupting established electoral procedures.
“I support the minister’s plan to ensure the right persons occupy key positions at the various sports federations, but he should not interfere with their election so as not to earn the wrath of the international bodies they are affiliated to. He should only ensure that the right people hold key positions in the various federations,” Gara-Gombe said.
Gara-Gombe also expressed frustration over the mismanagement of the sports budget.
He highlighted that the National Olympic Committee receives substantial funding from the International Olympic Committee, yet the recent expenditure of N9 billion in Paris yielded no medals.
“Now we have just wasted N9 billion in Paris without erecting a goalpost,” he noted.
Nigeria’s performance in Paris was disappointing, with the country fielding 88 athletes across 12 sports and failing to secure any medals.
This result marked the eighth time Nigeria has ended an Olympic Games without a medal in 19 appearances since its debut in 1952.
Enoh, reflecting on Nigeria’s Olympic performance, acknowledged the shortfall in achieving the country’s objectives and expectations.
He expressed regret and vowed to address the issues before the Paralympic Games.
“The Olympic Games, Paris 2024, have ended, and I accept that our performance should have been a lot better. It obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and hopes of Nigerians. I must apologise to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games,” Enoh stated.
Enoh also criticized the federations for prioritizing athlete qualification over proper preparation and revealed that federations resisted attempts to question their selection decisions.
“The concerned Federations obviously prioritised qualification over preparations for the Games. This seems to have always been the case. This has to change,” Enoh added.
He also mentioned that while Nigeria’s preparations for Paris were streamlined to focus on federations with a higher chance of qualifying, the selection and preparation processes had been marred by challenges.
“At the end of the qualification period, the selection of athletes and coaches was the absolute responsibility of each Federation. A few attempts to question selection after I got complaints were strongly resisted and defended,” Enoh said.
