M.K.O Abiola Stadium Set For Renovation – Sports Ministry

Renovation work will soon commence at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja the office of the Ministry of Sports has revealed.

A statement from the sports ministry said all is now set for contractors to “move to site” as the finalisation of agreements with the Dangote Group is nearly complete.

The ministry said the process to start the renovation work was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic but with things starting to open up, work is now set to begin in earnest.

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Alhaji Aliko Dangote had, last year, pledged to renovate certain areas of the long-neglected stadium.

“Work will soon commence at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja. We were on the verge of completing the documentation process, review contracting process for the rehabilitation of the Moshood Abiola Stadium before Covid-19 struck,” sports minister Dare said in a statement.

“Remember, it is a private company and they had to go through a lot of processes, they had to invite more than 8 different contractors. They have to visit the stadium, they have to turn in their bill of quantity and also sit on a review board. They also had to decide which contractor was the most suitable to give us the best job.

“Being the National stadium, all of these take time, they are normal standard operating procedure. I am glad to say that very soon, we are now at the stage of purchasing order and we must remember that we cannot force or accelerate the process because we are dealing with a well respected Nigerian who is bringing in his money without any plans to recoup anything to maintain the National Stadium,” Dare added.

Speaking about the ministry plans for other national stadiums, Dare said a process to concession the stadium in Lagos is ongoing and added that ministry hopes to secure ” special intervention funds of about 5-10 billion naira” from the federal government to renovate other stadiums.

” In the next couple of weeks, we will have those who are interested in taking over the National Stadium, Surulere concession and hostel come forth and the normal process of concession will take place.

“We are also looking for special intervention funds of about 5- 10 billion Naira from the government that would enable us renovate and upgrade other sporting assets across the country,” Dare assured.”