The National President of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Mr Isaiah Benjamin, has addressed concerns raised by members over the allocation of travel slots, stressing the need for a centralised system to benefit all journalists.
Benjamin spoke on Friday, July 17, 2026 during a Q&A session, Super Interview on the WhatsApp platform Sports World Platform hosted by Sunday Agunbiade
The SWAN President was responding to allegations from some NEC members and state chapters that he diverted travel slots meant for executives and members.
According to him, the real problem is that major sponsors, the National Sports Commission and the NFF, often give slots directly to individual journalists instead of routing them through the national body.
“At the last AFCON in Morocco, 26 journalists were said to have been sponsored by the NSC. The National Body got only 5 slots with strict conditions. Even some excos could not meet the requirements of media accreditation, fan ID and visa,” Benjamin said.
“Only 2 excos made it. The rest were shared among members. But because the remaining 21 did not pass through us, the blame came to the national leadership.”
He noted that the NFF also gave 2 slots outside the national body’s channel.
“The challenge is this: when the national body is fighting for all members, some journalists are fighting for personal slots. When we are given 2 slots, how do we share fairly across 36 states and the FCT?”
Benjamin said he is working to correct the “anomaly” by pushing for all future allocations to be sent through the SWAN national secretariat for equitable distribution.
“I need the support of all and sundry. Administrators use stick and carrot. If slots come directly, we have no record and no control. If they come through us, we will share them equally across state chapters,” he assured.
