The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will, today, conduct its zonal elections in two zonal headquarters across the South-West and South-South, while the South-East and the North will hold theirs tomorrow.

The AFN Electoral Committee said the elections are critical to strengthening the governance structure of athletics across the six geo-political zones.
A statement signed by AFN Secretary, Israel Inwang, said that the elections will not hold at the same day all over Nigeria as was the practice in the past.

He said that under the new arrangement, the three zones in the southern part of Nigeria were to have their elections today at the headquarters of each of the three zones, which are Ibadan for South West, Benin for South South and Enugu for South East. However, the South-East polls were shifted to tomorrow due to the sit-at-home order in the zone. He added that the three zones in the North will hold their elections tomorrow, also at the headquarters of each of the zones.

While the electoral committee did not give any reason for these staggered elections, it however, said that all elections will start at 9.00 a.m. and re-affirmed its “commitment to conducting free, fair, and transparent elections in alignment with the 2023 AFN Constitution, Electoral Guidelines and global best practices.”

It also enjoined “all eligible delegates, stakeholders, and aspirants to adhere strictly to the AFN electoral guidelines, which makes the chairman of each of the states in the zone or the secretary, in the absence of the chairman, as the electorate.”