GUIDELINES FOR ELECTIONS INTO THE BOARDS OF NATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS
1.0 PREAMBLE
1.1 The various Sports Federations (hereinafter called the National Sports Federations) (NSFs) have the authority to administer the respective sports recognized by the Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports Development (FMYSD) and affiliated to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC)
1.2 This Election Guidelines spell out the composition of the Board, Eligibility, Electoral Committees, Election Regulations, Elections Petition Committee, Electoral Appeals Committee, Inauguration, etc. to guide the conduct of the elections into the respective National Sports Federations’ Boards.
1.3 The elections will be conducted by the respective National Sports Federations, with the Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports Development(FMYSD) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) acting as election monitors.
2.0 THE BOARD
2.1 Each Board shall comprise:
i) the President,
ii) One Vice President,
iii) 11 other Members or as provided for in their relevant constitution or statute; and
iv) A Secretary General as prescribed in the Code Governance.
2.2 Constituencies:
The Membership of each Board shall be drawn from the following constituencies:
i) Six (6) Zonal Representatives (each representing a Geo-Political zone in the country);
ii) One (1) Athletes’ Representative of the Sport;
iii) One (1) Institutional Sports Representative;
iv) One (1) Representative of International Sports body of the Sport.
Where there are more than two Nigerians serving in such
International sports bodies, the highest ranked Nigerian shall be nominated to fill the slot. Where two or more persons are on the same level at international sports bodies, the one with highest number of years of membership of such body shall be nominated into the Board of the National Sports Federation;
v) One (1) Representative of the National Association of Women in
Sports (NAWIS);
vi) One (1) Representative of National Association of Physical, Health
Education, Recreation, Sports and Dance (NAPHER-SD);
vii) One (1) Philanthropist or an Ex-officio member or Sponsor;
viii) One (1) Representative of Coach and Officiating Official (Technical Bodies of the Sport).
3.0 GENERAL ELECTION: Eligibility:
3.1 For a candidate to be eligible for membership of the Board of a National
Sports Federation, he/she shall:
i) hold an educational qualification not below the West African School
Certificate (WASC) or its equivalent;
ii) not be less than twenty-five (25) and not more than eighty (80) years of age as at the date of the election, except in the case of Athletes’ Representative who may be below 25 but not less than 18 years of age as at the time of the election. Athletes’ Representative shall in addition be an active athlete or have retired not more than four years prior to the election. Such athlete must have also represented Nigeria in at least two major international competitions and with no drug related infraction.
iii) have a clear understanding of the Federation’s responsibilities, values and norms;
iv) not have been convicted of any crime within or outside Nigeria;
v) be a confirmed citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to contest for the post of President;
vi) have a verifiable source of taxable income;
vii) not be a member of any other sport other than the one they are vying for position; and
viii) have a manifesto detailing the vision and plan as well as the strategies for the attainment of such plan towards the upliftment and advancement of the sport. The manifesto shall be made available to all electorates at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the elections.
3.2 For a candidate to be eligible for the position of President of a National Sports Federation, such a person shall not have served for more than two (2) terms at the first instance as President of a National Sports Federation.
3.3 Without prejudice to 3.2, Nigerians who are Presidents of International/Continental Sports bodies as well as Presidents of National Sports Federations who have served for two terms are eligible to be on the Boards of National Sports Federations as Ex-Officio.
4.0 ELECTORAL COMMITTEES
4.1 The Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports Development (FMYSD) to set up Electoral Committee of not more than five (7) members.
4.2 The zonal office of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development shall conduct the Zonal Elections.
4.3 The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, HQs shall set up Electoral committee for all the NSFs Elections.
4.4 The caretaker committee members of the Board of each NSFs presently constituted shall not serve as members of the Electoral Committee.
4.2 Functions of the Electoral Committee
The Electoral Committees shall:
i) Supervise all elections in line with the Election Guidelines;
ii) Announce/declare results immediately after the elections; and
iii) Reserve the right to postpone any election/s if there is proof of violation of any part of the Election Guidelines.
5.0 CONDUCT OF ELECTION
i) All voting shall be by secret ballot;
ii) There shall be no voting by proxy at any of the elections (Zonal and
National).
iii) No candidate shall be voted for in absentia.
iv) Zonal elections to elect the Zonal representatives into the Boards for National Sports Federations shall take place at the six (6) Geo-political Zones on the same day at the Zonal Headquarters.
v) The Chairman or a Representative of State Sports Associations in each Zone shall constitute the electorate for the zonal elections in their respective sport.
vi) The National elections to elect the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the National Sports Federations shall take place after the conclusion of the Zonal Elections;
vii) The Representatives of all the 13 Constituencies shall form the electorate at the National elections to be held in Abuja.
viii) For a National Election to be valid, not less than 60% of the total number of the electorate must be present and vote.
ix) Winners shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast.
x) In the case of a tie (draw), there shall immediately be another round of voting until a winner emerges;
xi) A maximum of Three (3) nominations shall be allowed for each position, which must be seconded by a member of the electorate;
xii) All contestants must sign an undertaking to abide by this Guideline and accept the decision/s of the Electoral Committee.
6.0 DECLARATION OF RESULT
6.1 The Chairman of the Electoral Committee shall announce the results
Immediately after the conclusion of the elections.
6.2 Hard and soft copies of the results of the elections shall be communicated to the Nigeria Olympic Committee and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports after the conclusion of the elections.
7.0 PETITIONS
7.1. In the case of dissatisfaction with any aspect of the conduct and/or result of the elections from the Zones and National Election, a candidate may seek redress by submitting a written Petition within 48 hours after the elections with the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand Naira (N250,000) an Elections Petition Committee which shall be set up by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
7.2. The Elections Petition Committee shall comprise of five Members including the Chairman and Secretary:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
8.0. APPEALS
8.1. In the case of dissatisfaction with the decisions of the Elections Petition Committee, a candidate may seek redress by submitting a written Appeal within 48 hours after the elections with the sum of five hundred thousand Naira (N500,000) non-refundable to a 7-member Electoral Appeal Committee which shall be set up by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to consider and decide on all appeals arising from the decision/s of the Elections Petition Committee/s. The Committee shall be headed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
8.2 The Committee shall be composed as stated below:
i) ii) iii) iv) Permanent Secretary, FMYS HRM. Elias Usman Gora Mr. Vincent Odafen
Alh. Bode Durotoye -Chairman
-Member
-Member
-Member
v) vi) vii)
Chairman, States Directors of Sports Legal Adviser, FMYSD -Member
-Member
-Member/Secretary
8.3. Such appeal shall be in writing and addressed to the Chairman of the Appeal Committee, to reach him/her not later than 48 hours after the announcement of the results of the election against which he/she is appealing.
8.4. Any candidate dissatisfied with the decision of the Electoral Appeal Committee reserved the right to appeal with the sum of One Million (N1,000,000) Naira.
i) The decision of the Council of Arbitration for Sports shall be final, and not subject to contest in any court of law;
ii) In the event of the nullification of an election result arising from the decision of the Appeal Committee, there shall be a bye-election within one (1) week of the decision.
8.5 In the principle of fairness and transparency, the Chairman and members of the Electoral Committee shall not serve on either the Electoral Petitions Committee or Electoral Appeal Committees.
8.0 INAUGURATION
8.1 All elected Boards of the National Sports Federations shall be inaugurated by the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development at a date convenient to the Honourable Minister, but not later than four (4) weeks from the conclusion of elections.
