Reviewed by Rahmon OluwoNigeria sports betting writer
Published 17 October 2026
Mustapha Abdullahi was elected president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation in Abuja on Thursday, polling forty of the forty eight votes cast.
Olumide Oyedeji took the other eight votes. Ejike Ugboaja received none and walked out after voting began, and Igoche Mark withdrew the day before. Ugo Udezue was elected vice president unopposed.
The vote in Abuja
The elective congress was held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja on Thursday. FIBA had directed the federation to conclude its board election by 15 October.
Abdullahi succeeds Musa Kida. Abdullahi is Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria. He called the presidency a call to serve and a commitment to the future of Nigerian basketball, and has pledged to widen grassroots participation and strengthen the structures around the sport.
The board around him
Udezue was also returned as the South-East representative. The other zonal seats went to Fubara Fobika for the South-South, Babatunde Oguntade for the South-West, Yusuf Surajo for the North-East, Abubakar Abba Kaka for the North-West and Abdullahi Mustafa for the North-Central. The new board serves a four year term.
The case still in court
A Federal High Court in Abuja declined to stop the congress and adjourned the suit behind it, FHC/ABJ/CS/2428, to 3 November 2026. The case was filed by the former D’Tigers coach Ayodele Bakare against the federation and the National Sports Commission, and it challenges an extraordinary congress held in Yola.
Mark, Oyedeji and Ugboaja petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the conduct of the electoral process before the vote. The congress went ahead, and the November hearing is the next date in the calendar for anyone following Nigerian sport off the court as well as on it.
