The Southeast Directors of Sports Forum under the leadership of Mr Utobo Emmanuel, Ebonyi State director of sports, have passed a vote of confidence in the former Nigerian 400m hurdler, Victor Okorie, for his leadership as the representative of the Southeast on the board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The directors of sports, in a letter to the minister of sports development, Senator John Own Enoh, on Tuesday, said the resolution follows the unprecedented and monumental contributions of Mr Okorie Victor towards the development of athletics in the Southeast states.
The forum added that the election of Okorie as Southeast’s representative on AFN board, marked the beginning of a new dawn for grassroot athletics development which had hitherto been truncated due lack of private and corporate sponsors.
The directors said Mr Okorie’s wealth of experience as an athlete and now a business guru are necessary attributes that selflessly negate the mitigating factors against athletes development in Nigeria, particularly Southeast states and urged the Sports Minister John Enoh to use his good office to avert unethical proceedings against their representative, Mr Okorie Victor, with his removal as a performance director by the president of AFN, Chief Tonobok Okowa, because his of insistence that probity and accountability prevail in the Federation.
“The Southeast Directors of Sports forum under the leadership of Mr Utobo Emmanuel (Ebonyi State director of sports), wishes to express our profound gratitude to our illustrious son, Mr Okorie Victor, representing Southeast Athletics on the AFN board, for his monumental contributions towards the development of athletics in the zone.
“Before now Southeast states were only able to participate in government sponsored national athletic competitions (National Sports Festival and Youth Games). However since his election into the AFN board, the zone has enjoyed the benevolence of his numerous sponsorship programmes.
“The directors of sports were privy to these contributions and deemed it necessary to affirm that our representative at the AFN board, Mr Okorie Victor, is representing us well and reaffirm our solidarity for continuing to represent the zone on the AFN board.
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“Sir, we also wish to inform you that Mr Okorie Victor who before now was the performance director of AFN and a member of the five man committee proe panel appointed by the president of AFN, Chief Tonobok Okowa to look into the finance of AFN from 2021 – 2023
“Their findings of misappropriation of funds indicting key members were submitted to the executive board. What followed after was the dissolution of only the position of performance director because of his insistence that probity and accountability should prevail in AFN.
“Sir we plead that you should use your good office to avert these unethical proceedings in AFA for the sake of posterity,” the forum said.
Okorie, the southeast zonal representative on the AFN board, won a series of medals for Nigeria in his active days, including a silver at Abuja 2003 All African Games. He also won the 400m hurdles at Imo ‘98 and Bauchi 2000 National Sports Festival, and flew the nation’s flag at 2003 World Athletics Championship held in Paris, France.
