As the countdown begins to the 2025 Athletics Federation of Nigeria elections, outgoing president Tonobok Ojuru Okowa and technical director Samuel Onikeku may face disqualification if the National Sports Commission enforces its newly issued 2025 National Sports Federations Guidelines.
The guidelines, which were designed to ensure credible and transparent elections across all national sports federations, include strict eligibility criteria aimed at upholding integrity and international best practices.
One key clause states: “Candidates must not have any criminal record, or conviction, sanction or fine by any court of law or any competent authority or investigative panel.”
This provision may prove consequential for both Okowa and Onikeku, who were implicated in separate investigations during their tenure at the AFN.
In September 2023, an AFN Audit Committee set up by the federation’s board called on Okowa to refund ₦40 million, which he allegedly approved for himself as a personal loan to the federation.
The committee’s report noted that no such loan agreement was ever approved by the board — a claim confirmed by the AFN Secretary General at the time, Rita Mosindi.
Similarly, Samuel Onikeku, who heads the AFN Technical Subcommittee, was indicted by a Ministerial Investigative Panel for his role in the controversial non-registration of sprinter Favour Ofili for the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The panel criticised Onikeku for “poor judgment” and failing to act despite being aware weeks in advance that Ofili had not been entered for the event.
The panel stated, “Ofili’s situation might have been rescued if the Technical Director had reported or acted immediately on the information that he received.”
The report recommended that Onikeku be sanctioned by the AFN board. Ofili, frustrated by the incident, later refused to represent Nigeria at the World Relays, alleging that those responsible were still in positions of authority.
Despite these damning reports, the NSC has not taken any public action.
However, with the upcoming elections, attention is now firmly on NSC Director-General Shehu Dikko, who previously promised a clean break from the past, vowing to ensure that only credible, untainted individuals will be allowed to contest.
The Nigerian sporting community is watching closely to see whether the NSC will uphold the integrity tests it has championed, or whether the elections will follow a familiar pattern of impunity.
With just weeks to go before the AFN board elections, the stakes are high — not just for the candidates involved, but for the future credibility of sports governance in Nigeria.
