Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has Inaugurated a seven-member electoral committee to plan and conduct election into various offices of the National Body of the Association.
Inaugurating the committee at a special delegate conference of the Association at Hotel Reno in Abuja, at early hours of today, the National President of the Association, Mr. Honour Sirawoo urged the committee to use the SWAN status as its working document for the election, saying they should not hesitate to disqualify anybody who falls short of the provisions in the SWAN status.
He also urged the electoral committee to conduct the election as soon as possible, adding that he wanted the election to have taken place two months before the expiration of his tenure but for financial constraints, the Association found itself that did not happen.
Mr Sirawoo also said that SWAN under his leadership had fared well and appealed to all members to support the drive for a different SWAN so that “we can hand over to the next generation a SWAN which all of us will be proud of”.
The delegates bearing in mind that the tenure of the current leadership of the Association will relapse on 13th July 2019 granted the leadership of the Association an extension in office until the electoral committee concludes its arrangements and conduct new election into various offices within the next three months.
In their separate remarks, the former National President and Deputy National President of the Association, Saidu Abubakar and Sunday Ogele said they appreciated the way the Association was moving and urged all members to support the current leadership to move SWAN to a greater height.
They added that they were interested only in having a 21-century SWAN which everyone should be proud of, hence the rationale behind the ongoing SWAN status review and called on members to assist the Status review committee to come out with a document that stands the test of time.
In his response, the Chairman of the electoral committee, Yusuf Isah promised to conduct a free and fair election that will not only be credible but also accepted by all.
The committee consists of Yusuf Isah as Chairman, Gabriel Nwantanya as Secretary, while Isaiah Benjamin, Ikenna Okonkwo, Alh. Kabiru Jalingo, Jasper Okoro and Olaolu Fawola were members.
