…Says April 22 Communique Illegal
By Bameyi Sule, Abuja
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) National leadership has declared the communique purportedly released by certain destructive elements in its Bayelsa state Chapter on April 22, 2024, as illegal and non-existent.
In a press statement through the Association’s Secretary-General, Amb. Ikenna Okonkwo, on April 25, 2024, SWAN President, Mr. Isaiah Benjamin, urged Sports Writers to remain focused and forge ahead with the Bayelsa SWAN Congress decision on April 17, 2024.
Benjamin noted that some persons who lack the professional qualification to operate as sports writers have plotted against the SWAN Bayelsa chapter, in collusion with some rejected external elements outside the state.
He emphasized that no effort should be spared to resist any attempt to infiltrate the Chapter.
President Benjamin gave an account of how the National Secretariat of SWAN deployed a top National official, Mr. China Acheru, to supervise the earlier scheduled election.
However, on the day of the election, most of the SWAN members, including contestants, frowned at some abnormalities.
Consequently, after due consultations with the congress members on the elective congress day, the National Officer who also briefed the National Secretariat in Abuja decided to listen to the majority of SWAN members’ plea to postpone the election to address the issues raised and ensure everyone is carried along in the process.
The President urged every sports writer in Bayelsa to remain calm and assured them that, within the shortest possible time, the interim caretaker committee led by Mr. Loveday Herbert will conduct the election and usher in substantive SWAN leaders in the State.
He also expressed his delight with the robust sports development drive in Bayelsa State, anchored by Governor Duoye Diri, who has reappointed Mr. Daniel Igali to once again lead the state’s Sports sector.
The number one sports writer in Nigeria, Isiah Benjamin further described it as a thoughtful and commendable decision that will continuously set the State on a high human development pedestal.
