Wahid Oshodi, ex-Lagos commissioner, has been elected as the Vice President of ITTF, he polled 85.29% of the votes cast to beat 14 others
By kehinde Okeowo
A former Lagos State Commissioner for Sports, Wahid Enitan Oshodi, has been elected as one of the Executive Vice Presidents of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
He was elected as Deputy President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) early this year, before his elevation as VP of ITTF at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on November 24, 2021, in Houston, Texas, in the United States.
The Nigerian polled 85.29 percent of the total votes, which amounted to 116 of the 136 votes cast; he also defeated 14 other aspirants in the process.
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According to whirlwindnews.com, Oshodi is the second Nigerian to be elected to ITTF, after Segun George, he will serve along with seven other Executive Vice Presidents elected at the AGM.
Sweden’s Petra Sorling was returned unopposed as the President of the association, she became the first woman to be elected as President of ITTF since the association was formed 95 years ago.
Another African, Egypt’s Alaa Meshref was reelected into the Executive Committee (EC) of ITTF, making the first time the continent will have two representatives in the association.
Others elected as Vice Presidents are Graham Symons from Australia, Alaor Azevedo from Brazil, Liu Guoliang from China, Roland Natran from Hungary, Masahiro Maehara, and Khalil Al-Mohannadi who are from Japan and Qatar respectively.
Petra Sorling, the new ITTF president and the eight elected VPs will join the ITTF Athletes Commission Chairman, Zoran Primorac of Croatia, and IOC Member Ryu Seungmin of Korea Republic to form the ITTF Executive Committee (EC).
Wahid Oshodi began as the Chairman of Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSSTA), he was later elevated as Commissioner for Sports in Lagos State under Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2011.
He also served as the President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) between 2013 and 2017, before he was appointed as the Chairman of the Nomination Committee of ITTF.