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Torkwase Nyiekaa
The House of Representatives on Wednesday expressed support for veteran Nigerian boxer, Bash Ali’s long-running quest to stage a Guinness World Record championship fight, while firmly insisting that the project must be driven by private sponsorship rather than public funding.
The resolution followed the consideration and adoption of a report by the House Committee on Public Petitions, chaired by Mr Kwamoti Bitrus, on a petition filed by the former World Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion against the National Sports Commission.
Ali has for more than two decades pursued the ambition of staging a Guinness World Record boxing bout in Nigeria, which he hopes will establish him as the oldest professional boxer in history to compete in a sanctioned championship fight.
Presenting the committee’s report during plenary, Bitrus said the petition raised allegations of administrative bottlenecks and alleged obstruction by officials of the National Sports Commission, which the boxer claimed had repeatedly stalled efforts to bring the event to fruition.
After reviewing the petition and submissions, the committee recommended that the project be pursued strictly as a privately financed venture, with all regulatory obligations fully observed.
The House adopted the recommendation, stating that “the petitioner (Bash Ali) should proceed strictly within the framework of a privately-funded initiative and in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements governing sporting events in Nigeria.”
Lawmakers also emphasised that while government agencies may be involved in regulatory and logistical coordination, such involvement must remain within statutory limits and must not translate into financial commitment.
According to the resolution, “the National Sports Commission should, within its statutory mandate, provide a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory regulatory environment, including timely processing of approvals, access to facilities on standard terms and coordination with relevant agencies for security and logistics.”
The House further clarified that any assistance from government institutions must be non-financial in nature.
It added that relevant agencies may provide “non-financial support such as security, protocol coordination and international liaison, where formally requested and deemed appropriate, without creating financial liability for the government.”
Lawmakers also urged the Federal Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Commission to clearly define and communicate the boundaries of government participation in privately organised international sporting events, in order to prevent future misunderstandings and institutional disputes.
Ali, now 70, has spent over 20 years pushing for the realisation of the proposed fight, maintaining that he has secured various local and international endorsements but faced persistent administrative and structural challenges in Nigeria’s sports governance system.
A former world cruiserweight champion under the World Boxing Federation, he remains one of Nigeria’s most recognisable figures in boxing, with his campaign centred on securing global recognition as the oldest boxer to compete in a professional championship bout.
Wednesday’s resolution, while stopping short of financial backing, effectively places legislative endorsement behind the project’s continuation under a private-sector framework, potentially easing regulatory pathways for approvals and event coordination.
For Ali and his supporters, the House’s position represents a renewed opening in a long pursuit marked by delays, controversy, and shifting administrative hurdles across successive governments.
