By Godwin Wambebe.
Hassan Wada has emerged Chairman of the Kogi State Football Association.
Chairman of the Electoral Committee for the Kogi State Football Association Election, Yahaya Alih Keller announced results of elections held at the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) hall in Lokoja on Wednesday.
According to electoral committee chairman, Hassan Wada polled a total of 25 votes to emerge victorious.
Ismail Salihu garnered 25 votes to emerge as first Vice Chairman while Isiyaka Suleiman (Faky) polled similar number of votes to win the second Vice Chairmanship position.
Two notable representatives from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Dr Rabiu Inuwa Sheriff (Ahlan), Chairman NFF Technical Committee and Chairman Kano State Football Association; and Mallam Ali Abubakar Mohammed, Head Member Association and Special Duties of the NFF, witnessed the election.
Earlier before the dissolution of the Normalization Committee and voting proper, the Chairman of the Normalization Committee, Honourable Sadiq Abubakar Ainoko thanked the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation under the leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau for finding him and other committee members worthy and credible to undertake the process of bringing normalcy to football in Kogi State and to coordinate the process of electing new members into the board of Kogi State Football Association.
Hon Sadiq also appreciated the effort played by critical stakeholders in ensuring that their work is done seamlessly. He said the committee has carried out the mandate given to it by the NFF with utmost diligence and passion despite the pocket of disappointments from certain quarters.
He said it is the confidence reposed in him and the committee members that spurred them on to deliver in record time.
Chairman of Kogi United and Confluence Queens Football Clubs, Hon Abdulmalik Isah, who also witnessed the election, expressed gratitude to the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led Board of the NFF for bringing sanity back into Kogi State Football while also urging the new board under Hassan Wada to partner with relevant stakeholders for the development of football in the State.
In his acceptance speech, the New Chairman thanked God for making the election a reality, saying it was a dream come true.
Wada stated that he didn’t stumbled on the chairmanship position of Kogi State Football Association by accident but had always desired to come into the mainstream of football in Kogi dtate as a result of his passion and love for the game since the days he held sway as the Vice Chairman of the Association in 2014.
He said his election as Chairman is a new dawn for football in the state as he has designed and developed templates and concepts that will ensure speedy development and improvement of the round leather game in the state with special emphasis and attention on grassroot football development.
He said very soon, the new board will hit the ground running with its developmental concepts that will be beneficial to everyone involved in the business of football.
He said there won’t be room for laxity. He reiterated the need for everyone to join hands with the new board to improve football in Kogi State.
History was also made at the election when for the first time a female is elected into the Board of the Kogi State Football Association. She is Tosin Ojo Olorunleke, Team Manager of Confluence Queens FC.
