Alfred Abua, the Claimant, in the suite that eventually sacked Joseph Udalle as players’ representative, on the Board of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has said he will be ready to consolidate on his victory, at the lower court, should Udalle decide to appeal his sacking, by an FCT High Court, last week, Monday.
Abua, a former Nigeria international handball player stated this while Speaking on Radio Nigeria’s flagship magazine programme, Sports Spectacular, on Saturday.
According to him, evidence abounds that the former Secretary General of the HFN, Alhaji Mohammed Maigidansama, erred by unilaterally manipulating the electoral code released by the Sports Ministry for the elections of September, 2021, in favour of one of the contestants.
He said he was fully braced up to follow through the litigation, by presenting verifiable facts and figures; knowing that it is a fight to better the lot of players, and is beyond personal gains.
“This struggles are geared towards giving handball players in the country the recorgnision they duly deserve, as the current HFN Board has not done enough to either give the players a voice, or cater for their welfare and Wellbeing,” Abua said.
On insinuations that he was being propelled to destabilize the Sam Ocheho-led HFN Board, Abua dismissed it as unfounded rumour, hinged on no substance, and warned that he is ready to follow the matter, to its logical conclusion, and until justice is done.
An FCT High Court, that sat in Nyanya and presided over by Justice Alfred Okpe had on Monday, January 16, 2023 nullified the election of Joseph Udalle as HFN players’ representative, and ordered fresh election to be conducted, within 30 days.
The judge also awarded N500,000:00 as cost, against Alhaji Maigidansama, and in favour of the claimant; but Mr. Udalle had in an earlier interview vowed to appeal the rulling, which he said was a miscarriage of justice.
According to him, if the rulling is not upturned at the upper court, it could have a ripple effect on the elections of the other 30 sports federations, conducted with the same electoral guidelines.
