Ahead of the September 10, 2025 elections for Technical and Players’ Representatives into the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) board, incumbent Players’ Representative Kehinde Aiyelabegan has urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to take over coordination of the polls.
Aiyelabegan, who currently represents the North-Central zone, alleged that some board members are plotting to manipulate the process. He therefore called for the elections, originally scheduled to hold in Lagos, to be relocated to Abuja in order to ensure fairness and transparency.
“In past elections, all Technical and Players’ Representatives presented letters from their state sports councils to confirm their eligibility. Now, there are plans to open up the elections, violating established procedures,” he said.
The veteran Kwara State coach criticised a recent NTTF announcement on the Nigerian Table Tennis Coaches Association platform, which stated that voting would be open to all technical officials and athletes. According to him, this gives undue advantage to his opponent from Lagos, who could mobilise unofficial voters.
“Only two accredited delegates from each state, including the FCT – 74 in total – were eligible to vote previously. Opening the election creates room for manipulation,” he warned.
Aiyelabegan appealed directly to the NSC chairman to intervene and move the election venue to Abuja to safeguard its credibility.
Beyond the elections, he also stressed the need to revive grassroots programs and reintroduce state and national table tennis leagues. He called for open and transparent trials to select players for national duty, rather than what he described as the recycling of the same athletes.
“The era of hand-picking players for international tournaments is over. We need a system that rewards performance, not connections,” he said, proposing a three-stage trial system to identify the best talents both within and outside Nigeria.
The NTTF Technical and Players’ Representative election is scheduled for September 10, 2025.
