By Samuel Itsede
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of SWAN has commenced the process of updating its membership database and properly documenting its properties across the country.
Consequent upon this, the SWAN President, Mr Ahmed Aigbona, has directed the Secretary-General, Mr Mike Oboh, to immediately put in motion the necessary mechanism to achieve this.
In this regard, the National Secretariat is to engage with the immediate-past NEC led by Mr Honour Sirawoo as well as various State SWAN officials, including all those currently suspended by their State Chapters and their State Councils of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
“In recent days, some of our members who felt things should remain as they were under the immediate-past SWAN leadership have been putting in the public domain some things that should not be.
“Quite a number of them have been done out of ignorance, while some have been out of being misguided by certain elements.
“But in order to put the records straight, and ensure everybody is on the same page, we must ensure that we know ourselves and know who and what belong to us.
“It is in view of this that we will soon be updating our membership register,” SWAN President Ahmed Aigbona said.
He said this step would be in line with the need for every member to be properly documented with the NUJ and the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).
Aigbona said the Association would also document all SWAN properties across the country, and therefore urged the immediate-past SWAN leadership to hand over the Association’s properties under its care.
“Even though Mr Sirawoo was not at the national elections where he was removed from office to give account of his stewardship, we are aware of the state of the Association’s finances and properties such as offices, bank accounts and vehicles.
“But we are now about three weeks old in office, and Sirawoo and his lieutenants should do the appropriate thing.
“For example, there are four vehicles with the national body, with two of them unregistered and in Sirawoo’s custody, while there are several others across the country.
“The immediate-past NEC should do the right thing immediately,” he said.
Aigbona warned that the NEC he leads would not hesitate to take appropriate action against individuals or groups intending to deter it from ensuring SWAN continues to maintain its respected position among the stakeholders in the sports sector.
