The future of Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye as the Director General of the National Sports Commission seems to have been sealed and delivered as the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the NSC, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, on Monday formally presented the acting DG, Al-Hassan Yakmut, to the Directors of the Commission.
There have been conflicting reports on the position of Elegbeleye at the Commission, with some sources quoting the former Deputy Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Sports claiming that he is still directly in charge of the Commission.
Although a release from the Commission last week confirming that President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Yakmut to take charge of the commission in acting capacity rested Elegbeleye’s future, there were still doubts on whether he was still the one in charge.
According to the statement: “President Jonathan has approved the appointment of Yakmut as Acting DG of the Commission. He replaces Gbenga Elegbeleye who until recently was the DG of the Commission.
“The appointment of Yakmut would address the issue of keeping to the tradition of having a seasoned professional and sports technocrat from within to Directorate staff of the commission to serve as Chief Administrative Officer of the Commission who will be in a position to advice the Hon Minister as the political head and the chairman of the commission.
“Both Dr Amos Adamu and Dr Patrick Ekeji erstwhile DG of the NSC were sports administrators appointed from within the Commission.”
The statement was signed by the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Patrick Omorodion.
On Monday in what seems like resting the speculation of Elegbeleye’s future, Omorodion said the thrust of the meeting between Danagogo and the Directors was to formally present the acting DG to them, adding that it also fell in line with the regular management meeting held on Mondays.
Omorodion said: “The Minister was in his office earlier on Monday for the traditional management meeting of the Commission but today’s meeting was essentially to present the new DG, Yakmut to the Directors. I don’t think there is any issue over whether Elegbeleye is still in charge because the President has sacked him.”