Ahead of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) presidential elections scheduled for October 4, former president and Nigeria Olympic Committee Trustee, Lanre Glover, has thrown his support behind the candidacy of Jibril Saidu.
Glover, who once served as first vice-president of the African Handball Confederation and also sat on the International Handball Commission, commended the outgoing HFN president, Sam Ocheho, for transforming the sport in Nigeria.
“Sam Ocheho has done an excellent job bringing respectability to handball both locally and internationally. There is an important need to put someone in the position to continue the trajectory, and that person is Jibril Saidu,” Glover said.
He added: “I seize this opportunity to salute Sam for a job well done as he bows out. This will be the first time I am publicly endorsing a candidate. This has become necessary to ensure that handball does not return to its former comatose state before Sam came and turned its fortune around. Saidu has the financial wherewithal and experience to propel handball to greater heights.”
Jibril Saidu currently serves as the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Handball Nations Association, a role he has held since December 2021. He is also the North Central representative in Nigerian handball and a sitting executive board member of the HFN.
Having declared his intention to contest for the federation’s top seat, Saidu is seen as a continuity candidate, with outgoing president Ocheho stepping aside after completing two terms that reshaped the sport’s profile nationally and internationally.
The October 4 elections are expected to shape the future of handball development in Nigeria.
