DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

Controversy trails ownership of Former Female Athletes Association

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Aggrieved members of the Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria (AFFAN) accuse acting president Esther Aluko of altering association documents to claim ownership.
  • A petition to the Corporate Affairs Commission alleges Aluko tampered with documents and the constitution to illegally change trustees.
  • Aluko denies wrongdoing, stating the leadership must be former international athletes and that the association's vision was hers.

A dispute over ownership and leadership has erupted within the Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria (AFFAN). Aggrieved members have lodged a petition with the Corporate Affairs Commission, accusing the acting president, Esther Aluko, of altering the association's official documents to assert sole ownership.

There has been an illegal amendment of the AFFAN constitution without due process as stipulated in Section 12 of the AFFAN constitution with CAC and Section 16.1 of the current AFFAN constitution.

— PetitionersQuoted from the petition filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission regarding the alleged document tampering.

The petition, dated July 27, 2026, and signed by retired Air Commodore Rahinatu Garba, alleges that Aluko colluded with insiders to tamper with AFFAN's registration documents. Garba further claimed Aluko is not only claiming ownership but has also manipulated the constitution to illegally replace trustees.

AFFAN, CAC Reg. No: 125037, is an Incorporated Trustee owned by its members and governed by the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020. It is not owned by any individual.

— PetitionersStating the legal status of the association in their petition.

"There has been an illegal amendment of the AFFAN constitution without due process," the petition stated, emphasizing that AFFAN is an incorporated trustee owned by its members and governed by law, not an individual. The petitioners highlighted that no single co-founder has the right to claim ownership or unilaterally change trustees and the constitution.

That one individual is parading herself as the founder, and claiming personal and absolute power to unilaterally remove, appoint trustees and amend the constitution; these claims and many more are false and unlawful as no individual has such powers under CAMA 2020.

— Rahinatu GarbaSpeaking to newsmen in Minna about the allegations against the acting president.

They questioned how someone in an acting capacity could assume such powers, including directing state coordinators and controlling the association's platform. When contacted, Aluko denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the allegations were not in the association's best interest. She clarified that the association's leadership should consist of former international athletes and reiterated that the vision for AFFAN originated with her.

The vision behind the Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria was conceived in 2017 through my vision as Dr. (Mrs.) Esther Oluwatoy

— Esther AlukoExplaining her perspective on the association's origins during a phone call.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog