Reps form technical committee to Probe Sports Ministry’s failed doping test

Hon.Olumide Osoba, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports, announced yesterday that a Technical Committee had been formed to investigate the activities of the Federal Ministry of Sports in relation to the failed doping test by Nigerian athletes at the recently concluded Olympic Games in Tokyo.

After a closed-door meeting with Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, in which the Minister declined to answer questions about the meeting’s outcome, Osoba made the announcement before the National Assembly.

According to him, the report of the Technical Committee, which is chaired by Hon. Rauf Modibbo, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, will be submitted alongside the Ministry’s own committee.

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In two weeks, he claims, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development will appear before the Committee.

“Let me explain how the parliament works: a motion was moved, and a committee was formed to look into what actually transpired. The Committee now requires all of the information in order to complete its task.

“What we did was establish a Committee to investigate the events that occurred, and I discussed with the Ministry that we want the report of that Committee along with the report of our Committee, and members would go over both reports, and then we would call the Ministry, the Committee, and some athletes back, and we would have a proper interactive session with them.

“We want to do a comprehensive job, so we’ll need all of the details regarding what happened. We don’t have to rush through a work that isn’t thorough.

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“They’ll come back in two weeks, when enough information will have been shared with the members for them to perform a complete job. We would not begin an interactive session unless we have all of the necessary information. We don’t want to do anything half-assed. All of you will be invited in two weeks when they appear in front of Parliament.

“A motion has been filed, and they must appear in front of the House of Commons. You will all be called back and we will have that session once we have all of the information we need to complete our task.

“There are two committees,” he claims. This is being investigated by our own committee, a sub-Committee. The sports committee is our name. We don’t need to inform you about the investigation panels we formed.

“The entire House gave us a briefing to go investigate. As a result, we’ve formed a technical sub-Committee to look into it. They have their own committee as well, the Ministry has established its own investigation committee. Both reports would be combined, and we’d go over them before calling them to explain what’s going on.

Sponsor of the motion on the ‘Need to examine operations of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development over failed drug tests by Nigerian athletes at the recently ended Olympic Games in Tokyo,’ responded to a query after the meeting.

Hon. Lawrence Ayeni stated that the Committee did not provide adequate warning to members prior to the Chairman’s emergency meeting.

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“We would have been prepared for the meeting today if we had known about it earlier,” he said. And because not all of the members were present in the Chamber today, there were only three of us, we decided to postpone the meeting to another day.

“But I can’t tell what the minister is here for right now because we’re in budget season, and I’ve learned that the committee’s issue with doping is one of them, but I don’t think we’ll be hearing from them today. Right now, I’m unable to provide you with a date.

“I am not the Committee’s Chairman. The Chairman has the authority to say anything else. However, I am aware that the Minister is prepared to come and address any questions. I’m confident they’ll return,” Hon. Ayeni stated.

Hon. Ayeni expressed grave concern in his opening debate about the turn of events in which the World Athletics’ independent anti-doping arm, Athletics Integrity Unit, slammed the door on no fewer than ten Nigerian athletes, including the highly rated Blessing Okagbare, who had represented the country proudly at various international competitions.

He bemoaned the fact that ten Nigerian athletes were among the 18 athletes from “high-risk” countries who were excluded from competing in the Tokyo Olympics after failing to meet out-of-competition drug testing rules.

According to him, Blessing Okagbare, who won her first heat in the Women’s 100 meters on Friday, tested positive for human growth hormone, according to a statement released by the Athletics Integrity Unit.

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Ayeni, who expressed displeasure with the development, also expressed concern that, despite the large sums of money made available on a yearly basis for Regulatory Agencies in the Sport sector, there is no specific facility that will allow Nigeria to enter Category A, which is reserved for countries that have made “significant improvements” in anti-doping efforts.

As a result, the House’s Committee on Sports was charged with investigating the immediate and remote causes of the failed doping test in order to prevent future occurrences and enhance its oversight function.