Kaduna State Basketball Association Chairman Ahmed Tijjani has challenged whoever emerges in the forthcoming Nigeria Basketball Federation elections to make reconciliation a priority, insisting Nigerian basketball cannot reach its potential while stakeholders remain divided.

The NBBF Elective Congress is scheduled for October 15, 2026 in Abuja, when a new board for the 2026–2030 cycle is expected to emerge. The timetable was unanimously approved at the federation’s Extraordinary Congress in Yola, attended by 39 of 44 accredited delegates.

For Tijjani, however, electing new officials will mean little unless the incoming leadership succeeds in bringing together a basketball community that has endured years of administrative disagreements.

The Kaduna basketball chief wants aspirants to look beyond the contest for positions and concentrate on restoring stability, expanding competitions and creating opportunities for young players.

His intervention carries particular weight given Nigerian basketball’s recent history. The federation has previously endured damaging leadership disputes, including the crisis surrounding the 2021 electoral process, when the then Sports Ministry suspended an elective congress because of what it described as lingering factionalisation.

Tijjani believes the next administration must leave that culture behind.

He has also called for a stronger grassroots programme, particularly through schools and age-grade competitions, arguing that basketball can provide opportunities for young Nigerians while creating a sustainable talent pipeline for the national teams.

“We want to get basketball to every level and every age-grade level so we can engage these kids,” Tijjani said recently while speaking for North-West basketball stakeholders.

He also wants greater opportunities created for girls and believes whoever takes control of the federation should build on existing achievements rather than begin another cycle of internal battles.

The October election will mark the end of Musa Kida’s tenure, with the incumbent confirming that he will not seek a third term and promising a free and transparent transition. Elections for players, technical and other affiliate representatives are scheduled between October 7 and 14 before the main congress.

Several interests are already gathering around the race, including former D’Tigers star Ejike Ugboaja and Energy Commission of Nigeria Director-General Mustapha Abdullahi, increasing attention on the direction the federation will take after October 15.

For Tijjani, though, the first assignment for whoever wins is bigger than an electoral victory: Bring Nigerian basketball together, end the cycle of conflict and make development rather than division, the defining story of the next NBBF administration.

Kenneth Okonkwo, a spokesman for African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s 66th Independence Day address, rejecting the President’s description of Nigeria in 2023 as a “sick patient” suffering from cancer.

Tinubu, in his Independence Day broadcast on Thursday, likened Nigeria’s situation in 2023 to that of a patient who had been diagnosed with cancer, stating that his administration had embarked on difficult reforms to address the country’s underlying problems.

Reacting in a post on his X handle on Thursday, Okonkwo said Nigeria was a blessed country and not one suffering from cancer.

“God forbid! With respect to President Tinubu, Nigeria is a blessed country that has no cancer.

“According to Wike, it is the All Progressives Congress (APC) that has cancer, and Tinubu’s leadership style has made the cancer to metastasise.

“Tinubu met fuel at N195, but it has metastasised to N1,500. He met naira at about N450 to a dollar, but it has metastasised to about N1,400 per dollar. He met about N77trn total debt, but it has metastasised to N166.6trn total debt, and he is still borrowing. Insecurity is at its worst under Tinubu.

“He has been away from Nigeria more than 290 days and about 52 times in just about three and half years. Transportation and food costs are horrible, electricity and employment are absent, poverty is ravaging, roads are deplorable, rule of law and human rights trampled on. No microeconomic index is good.

“What Nigeria needs to do to avoid its demise from Tinubu’s terminal cancerous leadership style is to democratically cut out Tinubu and APC’s cancerous leadership style by voting them out on 16 January 2027, and voting in HE Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Coalition Party, to rescue Nigeria from its inevitable cancerous demise under Tinubu’s watch, and make life affordable for Nigerians through the introduction of refined petroleum production subsidy,” the post reads in part.