President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Dr Uyi Akpata, has emerged  as the Sports Personality of the Year at the 2025 Sportsville Special Recognition Awards scheduled to hold next month.

Akpata whose tenure in charge of cricket in Nigeria has turned the country into one of the powerhouses of the sport in Africa, recently led the Junior-Yellow Greens to a comfortable finish at the U19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia.

That feat of defeating New Zealand and Ireland has earned Nigeria automatic qualification for the 2027 U19 World Cup.

According to a statement issued by organisers of the award, Akpata is one of the over  15 top sports personalities and corporate organisations that have been pencilled down for the various award categories.

Meanwhile, AriseNews Television Anchor, Oseni Rufai, has been selected as the Chairman of the Sportsville Awards Day for the 2025 edition of the ceremony.

The appointment of the highly sought after Rufai was made public via a release signed by  Frank Ilaboya , the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sportsville Comm Services, the organisers of the yearly award.

“We’re extremely delighted to announce Oseni Rufai as the Chairman of this year’s edition of Sportsville Special Recognition Awards. We want to use this opportunity to express our thanks and appreciation to him for accepting to chair this year’s ceremony.

“Rufai  has been a keen follower and supporter of the award ceremony since inception five years ago and agreeing to be part of this year’s edition is no doubt a huge plus to the integrity of the event which is fast becoming Nigeria’s most reliable and prestigious award ceremony,” Mr Ilaboya further stated.

This year’s ceremony comes up on Friday, March 21st, 2025 at the Prestigious Eko Club, Surulere Lagos.