2026 election: NBBF should borrow a leaf from NFF

Sometime in February 2026, I wrote an article that appeared highly critical of some members of the Nigerian basketball fraternity who had organised a ‘protest press conference’ in Abuja to condemn alleged attempts by the present leadership of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to extend its stay beyond January 31, 2026.  In trying to gain […]

Sometime in February 2026, I wrote an article that appeared highly critical of some members of the Nigerian basketball fraternity who had organised a ‘protest press conference’ in Abuja to condemn alleged attempts by the present leadership of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to extend its stay beyond January 31, 2026.

 In trying to gain the sympathy of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA), the seven stakeholders – all of whom are members of the outgoing board of the NBBF – inadvertently indicted themselves when they made some of the serious allegations against the leadership of Musa Kida, an engineer.

The group alleged that in four years, the leadership didn’t organise a single congress, even as the NBBF constitution stipulates that congresses must be held quarterly. They also lamented the leadership’s refusal to hold annual general meetings while indulging in financial malfeasances. The coalition, therefore, called on the FIBA, the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC) to immediately look into their grievances in the best interest of Nigerian basketball.

Personally, I found their sudden realisation that Nigerian basketball was being raped mindlessly as not only baffling but also annoying. Therefore, I looked at them as unserious fellows who went to sleep while their house was on fire. Indeed, so many Nigerians asked what they were thinking when the alleged constitutional breaches unfolded right before them.

Listening to Colonel Sam Ahmedu (retd), one of the most influential figures in African basketball governance whine like a baby when he could have helped to nip the “excesses” of the Kida-led board in the bud was disappointing, to say the least.

Anyway, a few weeks after the press conference by the ‘concerned members of the NBBF board,’ the FIBA stepped in to calm frayed nerves. On March 16, the International Basketball Federation officially extended Kida’s tenure to October 15, 2026. The decision that disappointed most basketball stakeholders in Nigeria was conveyed in a letter signed by FIBA secretary-general, Andreas Zagklis.

According to the FBA, the tenure extension was to prevent a recurrence of any disruption like what happened in 2022, and ensure administrative stability ahead of the 2026 edition of the Women’s World Cup slated for September in Berlin, Germany. The FIBA stated categorically that Kida’s board would be in charge of Nigeria’s participation at the World Cup, after which a new board is expected to take office from October 16, 2026.

Although the intervention of the FIBA in the raging leadership crisis was timely and commendable, when some discerning minds subjected it to serious scrutiny, it was discovered that the body had turned the NBBF constitution on its head and danced to the tune of some powerful individuals in Nigeria who wanted tenure elongation by all means.

Apart from the desire for administrative stability, the FIBA didn’t give any other cogent reason to justify the tenure extension. The decision was taken without recourse to an existing article in the NBBF statutes, which states clearly that the tenure of a new board shall commence immediately after it is elected.

It is an open-secret that the present board, which is Kida’s constitutionally approved second tenure, was legally sworn in immediately after it was elected on January 31 at the elective congress in Benin City.

Most of us are aware that despite the leadership tussle occasioned by the parallel election that was held in Abuja, the board that emerged in Benin City was the one the FIBA recognised and identified with long before the ceremonial reception by the then Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare was held in October 2022.

So, the FIBA is not ignorant of the crisis that engulfed Nigerian basketball. It is the body that approved the 2019 amended statues of the NBBF and can’t pretend not to know what the constitution says about elective congress and tenure of an elected board. If this is the case, FIBA only hid under the guise of administrative stability to violate the NBBF statutes.

Talking about the need to prevent disruptions ahead of the 2026 Women’s World Cup, the FIBA appears to be crying more than the bereaved. Nigeria should be the one to worry about how to achieve crisis-free participation for D’Tigress not FIBA, which should concern itself more with organising a hitch-free competition in a few months.

Moreover, government is a continuum, so the talk about disruptions is neither here nor there. The presence of a secretary-general, who is usually seconded to federations from the NSC, is enough to guide a new board to prosecute any international tournament, even at short notice. 

This also exposes the falsehood in the claim by the FIBA that if a new board is elected on the eve of the World Cup, it would affect the preparation and participation of D’Tigress. Moreover, where is the guarantee that with Kida in charge, Nigeria is going to win the 2026 World Cup?

It would be recalled that in 2017, a similar scenario played out when Kida was elected after a long-drawn battle with his predecessor, Malam Tijanni Umar. Nigeria was still preparing for two major tournaments – Afrobaskets for the men and women. As much as the dust raised by the gladiators had not settled fully, D’Tigress went ahead to win the title in Mali, while D’Tigers won silver in Tunisia.

Well, even as FIBA has extended Kida’s tenure against popular demand, it also took a decision that is capable of saving the NBBF from more crisis in the build-up to the October 2026 election. The FIBA has ordered that there should be no amendment to the existing NBBF statutes. This is to forestall plans for a third term by anyone one with a vaulting ambition. 

However, what is still disturbing is the deafening silence weeks after the directive that an elective congress should be held, not later than October 16.  We are already in April, yet nothing has been seen or heard about preparation for the election that will make-or-mar basketball in Nigeria.

This silence is indeed too cold for comfort because time is fast running out. According to the NBBF statutes, before any election, there has to be a board meeting to ratify the date and agenda for the Extra-Ordinary Congress. This requires the board to write to the delegates to inform them of the congress.

 It is the congress that has the power to pick and ratify the members to serve as electoral and appeals committee before they are inaugurated. There is also the screening of aspirants and appeals before the actual election. This is definitely a process that requires time and diligence.

Unfortunately, the outgoing board appears more interested in the trip to Berlin than the October election, eliciting fears that the leadership may be up to something sinister or inimical to the good of Nigerian basketball.

 This is the time for the NSC and NOC to act decisively. Since coercion is the only language most Nigerians now hear and understand, the supervising authorities shouldn’t hesitate to compel the outgoing board of the NBBF to commence the process for the 2026 elective congress.

In fact, the NBBF should borrow a leaf from the NFF board that has since constituted its electoral committee and picked September 26 and the city of Lafia as the date and venue for its next election.