Aftermath of Asaba 2018 Fallout: Ogba Threatens Lawsuit Against Abati

By Victor Sorokwu Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Asaba 2018 African Senior Athletics Championships, Chief Solomon Ogba, has threatened to sue former presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, for an article the latter wrote on the just concluded event. Ogba, in a statement on Tuesday demanded a retraction from Abati within 48 hours or face lawsuit over his article in a national daily describing the championship organisation as a disgrace. “Dr. Abati, a respected journalist, has a right to his opinions but to describe the organization of CAA Asaba 2018 as a disgrace shows he is acting in a manner that suggests that he is being used”, the LOC chairman stated. Ogba, who was the immediate past chairman of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) said in the statement by head of the ASAC/LOC Media subcommittee, Olukayode Thomas, that it is regrettable that Abati wrote authoritatively about a subject he has no first hand information on. “He was not in Asaba, so why write authoritatively about an event you did not witness? I am sure if he had contacted his junior colleague, Olukayode Thomas, who is our head of Media, he would have gotten some firsthand information and clearer insight. “He could have called to check his facts and would have saved himself all the embarrassment the falsehood he penned is causing. He wasn’t even ready to give the organizer the benefit of the doubt. It is lamentable that a writer of Abati’s stature in the media is relying on unverifiable information available on online media to write a sensitive article’’, Thomas stressed Ogba however admitted that the Championship had hitches which were dealt with swiftly and the countries involved were appreciative of the manner the issues were resolved. “Compared to previous African Championships, we witnessed the least complaints, especially in the areas of feeding, accommodation and transportation” adding that contrary to Abati’s story, no country slept at the airport for three days. “Regular travellers like Abati know that our airports shut down by 11pm, so how can people sleep in an airport that is completely closed down by night? We had four hotels in Lagos. They include the two Ibis near the airport and Novotel where the athletes and officials that could not connect a flight to Asaba stayed and Abati is free to contact the management of the hotels”, the organiser said. Ogba accused Abati of being in hurry to do a hatchet job and therefore did not tarry to carry out his research properly before going to the press. “Asaba 2018 has the highest number of world class athletes in Africa in recent times. If the track was bad, they will not run. Why would they risk their careers if the track was unfit for running? “Caster Semenya ran a sub-50 to win the women 400m, Tobi Amusan ran a sub-13 to win the 100m hurdles; athletes who are running with caution don’t return such fantastic times, times good enough to win either the Olympic Games or IAAF World Championships”, the former AFN president argued. According to him, Asaba Championship is the first ever championships were athletes got prize money for performances and where countries got transport allowances.