Ibrahim Shehu Gusau has put athlete welfare at the centre of his focus for the next four years after winning reelection as president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.
Gusau polled 20 votes to beat challenger Uche Muoma who got two votes from the 22 delegates present at the 2021 Elective Congress held in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state on Monday.
Sunday Omotayo Adeleye and Nneka Ikem Anibeze emerged as 1st and 2nd vice-presidents respectively.
Patrick Estate (South East), Dr Paul I Wakama (South South), Solomon Abari (North East) and Vitalis Lashimi North Central all emerged from their zones as representatives. Other members of the board include Olu Sule who is a representative of the Technical Officials and Coaches alongside Moses Suleiman as Athletes Representative.
Speaking after his election, Gusau stressed his intention to create competent, independent commissions to pilot the affairs of the AFN and reposition Nigerian athletics to reclaim its pride of place in the world.
Gusau assured an operating environment for the AFN free from interference from the board and vowed to ensure athletes and their welfare are placed front and centre of the federation’s operations.
“My intention is to have a big and robust AFN that will perform as good as any federation internationally,” Gusau said. “One area we need to look at, as I earlier mentioned again, is the area of commissions. I can tell you, we will pursue to create commissions.
“This is not a 13-man affair. When commissions are created, we have different commissions: we have the sporting commission, technical commission, anti-doping, and several other commissions, I want to assure you, these commissions will be created, and we will remain at our supervisory role at the board, and we’ll allow the commissions to function.
“What we want is good results, and most importantly, number one for us is the athletes. This is why we have a federation. If we do not have athletes, we do not have a federation. So, we will make sure those athletes welfare is very well protected.”
