Athletics Coach Urges Minister To Intervene In AFN Brouhaha

The national head coach of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Seigha Porbeni, has called on the minister of sports development, Senator John Owan Enoh, to resolve the lingering crisis among the hierarchy of the Federation.

The coach, in a letter dated January 31, 2024 and addressed to the minister, said it is no longer news that there has been a lot of misunderstanding among the hierarchy of the board following the report of an Audit Inquiry Committee set up by Chief Tonobok Okowa in his capacity as AFN president to look into the financial dealings of the Federation.

He said the committee headed by AFN first vice-president, Tafida Gadzama, at the completion of their work, recommended immediate redeployment of the current AFN’s secretar general,

Mrs. Rita Mosind and a return of N40 million taken as refund from the Federation’s account

by the president, Chief Tonobok Okowa.

Porbeni urged Sports Minister John Enoh to address the concerns raised by the Audit Inquiry Committee by inviting external auditors to review the report and take necessary actions.

“I write in my capacity as the National Head Coach of the above-mentioned Federation and also a stakeholder of the Federation.

“It is no longer news that there has been a lot of misunderstanding among the hierarchy of the board. About three months ago, the President of the Federation, Chief Tonobok Okowa in his capacity set up an Audit Inquiry Committee headed by his first Vice President, Tafida Gadzama to loo$ into the financial dealings of the Federation.

“After the completion of the report by the said Audit Committee, some recommendations were made. Notably, two major recommendations – The Audit Inquiry Committee requested the immediate redeployment of the current Secretary General, Mrs. Rita Mosind. The Committee also requested the return of N40 million taken as refund from the Federation’s account by the President, Chief Tonobok Okowa. Some of the Board members refused to discuss the report and these recommendations were not carried out by the Board,” the letter read in part.

Coach Porbeni appealed to the Minister not allow any one to mislead him about the redeployment of any Ministry s staff, saying it might affect both athletes and coaches preparations for the All Africa Games in Ghana.