Again, AFN under AIU probe for age manipulation of 17 athletes

Again, AFN under AIU probe for age manipulation of 17 athletes

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has once again placed Nigerian athletics under the spotlight, querying the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) over glaring discrepancies in the ages of athletes who have represented the country at continental and global competitions.
What should have been a straightforward matter of record-keeping has instead exposed a culture of falsification, negligence, and incompetence that continues to tarnish Nigeria’s image in world athletics.
The AIU’s latest letter to AFN President Tonobok Ojuru Okowa and General Secretary Israel Inwang identifies 17 athletes with multiple dates of birth, some carrying as many as three or four different records across competitions and public profiles.
Among them is Comfort Anietie James, now a serving customs officer, whose case is particularly embarrassing for the Nigerian Customs Service. James has been listed variously as born in 1998 and 2000, yet competed in youth categories long after she should have been ineligible.
Another troubling case is that of Chioma Cynthia Nweke, the 2025 MTN CHAMPS Athletics Classics 100m winner in Benin City.
Nweke’s records show conflicting dates of birth across AFN entries and World Athletics profiles, raising questions about how she was cleared to compete in U20 events.
Similarly, Jennifer Chioma Nwachukwuu, also known as Chioma Elochukwu, has been celebrated for her 400m personal best of 51.26 seconds at the NCAA this year, but her age records are riddled with contradictions, with entries showing 2006, 2008, and even 2010 as her year of birth.
The list goes on. Islamiat Akinsanya, Esther Afigbo, and others have all been implicated in the AIU’s findings, painting a picture of systemic fraud.
These discrepancies are not mere clerical errors; they point to deliberate manipulation of records to gain unfair advantage in age-category competitions.
At the heart of the scandal is the AFN leadership, whose board remains under a cloud of illegitimacy following violations of its own constitution during the June 2025 elections.
The president and his two vice presidents are not recognized stakeholders in athletics. The technical director and secretary general, entrusted with safeguarding the integrity of records, appear more interested in foreign trips than in the federation’s credibility.
But the rot runs deeper. The National Sports Commission (NSC) is complicit in this scandal, having posted novices with little or no understanding of track and field as secretary generals of the AFN.
Worse still, officials previously indicted for incompetence or fraud have been rewarded with fresh postings, perpetuating a cycle of mismanagement.
The NSC’s complicity extends to the fraudulent elections that ushered in the current AFN board. By seizing control of the federation’s operations, aided by a president who relies solely on government funding for activities, the NSC has entrenched its grip on Nigerian athletics.
This takeover has left the AFN unable to function independently or credibly.
The financial mismanagement is equally damning. The AFN Audit Committee report once revealed how the federation’s finances were abused, with sponsorship money borrowed and misapplied, and even used to refund non-existent loans.
Premium Trust Bank’s sponsorship funds were diverted in ways that violated contractual agreements, while expenditures were made without budgets, approvals, or accountability.
Nigeria’s athletics is once again at risk of global disgrace, not because of the talent of its athletes, but because of the incompetence, fraud, and complicity of those charged with managing the sport.
Like the leopard that cannot change its spots, the AFN and its overseers at the NSC seem incapable of shedding their reputation for corruption and mismanagement.