Francis Orbih has been re-elected president of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria following a poll held at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in Abuja.
He was unopposed with 10 votes while Maina Mohammed emerged as the vice president of the federation also with 10 votes during the election monitored by officials of the ministry.
The federation’s election was put on hold in September last year following a court injunction that stopped the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the electoral committee from conducting the exercise for the executive offices of the federation, pending the hearing and determination of a substantive suit filed by some aggrieved stakeholders.
After some conflict resolution meetings within the badminton family, the problems were resolved, and the litigation was discontinued at the Federal High Court.
Newly elected president, Orbih told Channels Television that the new board was committed to developing badminton in the country.
“We will consolidate on all we did in the last four years,” he told Austin Okon-Akpan. “We were ready to get to work before the crisis started. We are glad it’s over now, so it’s time to renew our commitment to improving the sport in Nigeria.
“We have a clearer understanding of the importance of teamwork now, so we will ensure that everyone on the board contributes to all we do. It is also important that they understand the vision, goals, and objectives so execution will be easy.”
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Ismaila Abubakar, was among those who witnessed the election. Before the swearing-in of the newly elected BFN Board members, he told the team to respect the code of governance.
“I charge you all to be absolutely guided by the established processes, procedures, and the Code of Governance of National Sports Federations in the discharge of your responsibilities,” Abubakar charged.
“You are required to bring your BFN constitution to be in consonance with the Ministry’s 2021 Code of Governance before the end of June 2022.”
Other board members include Lawal Yusuf Bello (North East), Shehu Warah (North Central), Solaja Obiageli (South East), Tangbe Awala (South-South), Grace Gabriel (Athletes Reps), Esther Gidado (NAWIS), Tunde Kazeem (NAPHER-SD), Malik Anas (Sponsor/Philanthropist/ Ex-Officio), Etuku T.Y. (Institutional Rep), and George Shitta (Technical Rep).
