Fulfilling the promise made last year and following the visit of a 3 man fact finding delegation in January, the FIBA Executive Committee has decided that in the absence of an amicable solution between the two factions of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), new elections shall be held.
The decision was made after the FIBA Executive Committee meeting held on Saturday 10 March at the House of Basketball, Switzerland and same was communicated early today in a letter sent to Mr Musa Kida and Mr Tijjani Umar.
The apex body concluded that the two elections held last year were not carried out entirely in accordance with the FIBA General Statutes with specific attention drawn to Articles 9.3 and 9.7 of the statutes as follows;
Article 9.3 - The statutes and regulations of national member federations must comply fully with the General Statutes and Internal Regulations of FIBA. The General Statutes and Internal Regulations of FIBA shall form part of the national member federations` statutes and regulations. In the event of doubt or conflict, the Genera/ Statutes and Internal Regulations of FIBA shall prevail.
Article 9.7 - National member federations shall manage their affairs independently and with no influence from third parties. In particular they must ensure that their officials are either elected or appointed under a democratic process for a term of office of four (4) years. Their statutes must provide a transparent procedure that guarantees the complete independence of the election or appointment.
According to FIBA; `the 12 June 2017 elections did not comply with Article 9.3 and the 13 June 2017 elections did not comply with Article 9.7`
The new elections will be supervised by FIBA partly or entirely and will be in accordance with a procedure established in the NBBF Statutes. These NBBF statutes will comply with all relevant and applicable provision of the FIBA General Statutes and will guarantee complete independence and no influence from third parties on the election. FIBA stated in its letter that it will work with the relevant stakeholders to amend and develop the NBBF Statutes.
No date has been announced or deadline given for the new election but until such time that the election is held, the governing body will continue to communicate with the Musa Kida led board.
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