Former D’Tigers coach Ayodele Bakare has urged Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) stakeholders to judge presidency aspirant Olumide Oyedeji on his documented record and personal responsibilities, not on his links to past administrations.
Bakare, who owns Comets Basketball Club, made the call in a statement issued on Thursday, reacting to a position taken by Coach Eleniyan on Oyedeji’s career.
‘Nobody is saying that Mr. Olumide Oyedeji’s playing career should shield him from scrutiny. It should not,’ Bakare quoted Eleniyan as saying.
Oyedeji, a former Nigeria captain, was part of the NBBF leadership structure during the 2017 crisis and later served as South-West representative on the board elected in 2022. Bakare said this should prompt specific questions about the duties assigned to him, the decisions he took and their outcomes, rather than blanket blame for every decision of those boards.
‘If someone has evidence that Mr. Oyedeji personally made a particular decision, mishandled a particular responsibility, or was personally responsible for a particular failure, then let that evidence be presented and examined,’ the statement said.
Bakare listed initiatives he attributed to Oyedeji’s time as League Chairman:
*Measures on player welfare, salary payments, scheduling and recovery periods for teams
*Welfare provisions for referees, statisticians and match commissioners
*Sponsorship deals involving Peak and the All-Star Games
*Expansion of the women’s league into five phases in Abuja, Kaduna, Asaba, Ibadan and Lagos, with 18 teams
*The Kwese Elite Future Camp for experienced and emerging coaches
He also cited Oyedeji’s grassroots work, including basketball camps in Kano, Jos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Osogbo, Nasarawa, Ekiti, Abeokuta, Akure and Lagos. Other programmes named were the Rising Stars Basketball Championship, the National Intercollegiate Basketball Championship and the Hoops and Read Basketball Club.
Bakare added that Oyedeji’s involvement with Dolphins Basketball Club, winners of the 2025/2026 Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League, showed his club-level contribution.
He said the same scrutiny should apply to every aspirant, with delegates given documented records, responsibilities and proposed ideas to assess.
‘Ask the questions. Demand the evidence. Examine the record,’ Bakare quoted Eleniyan as saying.