Former President of the Nigeria Badminton Federation, Bar. Francis Orbih has distanced himself from a communique reportedly issued by a group claiming to represent the 30 Sports Federation in Nigeria.
The communique issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare to reverse his decision that dissolved the boards of the sports federations last week or face legal action.
Orbih declared that the Badminton Federation was not among those that signed the communique even though their name was included.
Speaking exclusively to www.Timeline.ng on Wednesday, Orbih noted that there was no way he or any member of his board would have signed the so-called communique when they were all present at the inauguration of the caretaker committee by the Sports Minister.
The former Badminton Federation president also doubted the sincerity of the communique noting that most of the former board members of the other dissolved Sports Federations were also present at the inauguration which took place on Tuesday in Abuja.
On Tuesday, some members claiming to represents the board members of the dissolved 30 National Sports Federations sat in Abuja and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, to reverse the decision or face legal action, while also threatening to mobilise Nigerians to ground the ministry to a halt.
The spokesperson of the aggrieved group, Frederick Abah of the Nigeria Judo Federation, stated that the minister should desist from jeopardizing the future of the country's youths, especially sportsmen and women.
Abah said, "Board members of the 30 sports federations met in Abuja on Tuesday and totally rejected the arbitrary and untimely dissolution of the boards of duly and democratically elected federations.
"The board members of the 30 sports federations hereby give the minister a 48-hour ultimatum, within which he is to rescind and reverse all unlawful pronouncements he made over the dissolution of duly appointed board members of sports federations or face appropriate reaction from the federations.
"We will not only ground the ministry with protests, but also institute legal action against the minister. The minister and the ministry is urged to desist from jeopardising the future of our youths, especially Nigeria's sportsmen and women, by putting the country at risk of being banned from participating at the forthcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.
"The board members also condemn and reject the establishment of caretaker committees over duly and democratically elected sports federations, whose tenures were yet to expire.
"The members unequivocally stated that on no account will the caretaker committees be recognised by the international bodies of the various sports federations in place of the duly elected boards.
"The federations noted that the Minister of Youth and Sports and the ministry lied when they claimed that the tenures of the boards have expired.
"Board elections were held on June 13, 2017 and the inauguration into office was done on July 10, 2017 for a four-year tenure. The tenure will therefore expire on July 10, 2021 and not April 30, 2021, when the federations were dissolved.
"Board members wish to inform the public that no provision in the Code of Governance empowers the minister to dissolve boards of duly and democratically elected federations and no legislation, law, regulation or instrument empowers the minister or the ministry to set up caretaker committees.
"The board members restate that sports caretaker committees can never be allowed to replace duly elected boards whose tenures are yet to expire."
Meanwhile, Sunday Dare, while inaugurating the newly constituted caretaker committees in Abuja on Tuesday, defended his dissolution of the federations, saying it had become necessary after the expiration of their tenures and the fact that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was less than 90 days.
"The caretaker committees are thus specially selected to reflect our aspirations towards podium appearances at the Tokyo Olympics.
"The dissolution became necessary because of the expiration of their tenures. It is also important because of the Tokyo Olympics which is less than 90 days away and which not only requires that all hands are on deck but also because continuity is necessary to ensure preparations for the Games are not hampered in any way," Dare stated.
"I want to warn that we will not hesitate to remove any caretaker committee of any of the federations that work at cross purposes with our aspirations."
The federations that were claimed to have signed the communique include Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Cycling, Darts, Deaf sports, Golf, Gymnastics and Handball. Others are Hockey, Judo, karate, kickboxing, Wushu, Rowing, Ccanoeing and Yatching, Yugby, Scrabble, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Tennis, Traditional Sports, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Wrestling.