The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development are deliberating the concession of the Abuja and Lagos National Stadia citing poor funding from the Federal Government as its
The report was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Adesola
He said the Ministry required a sum of ₦2 billion annually for proper maintenance of facilities only at Abuja Stadium.
“The cost of maintenance is bigger than what the ministry gets as an annual budget; so we are considering concession it out to [the] private sector.
“We only managed to organise the festival. The initial budget proposed for the Games was N6 billion but we did not get anything near it,” he explained.
Adesola said the hosting right was given to Edo state because a sitting governor would be in place by the time the festival comes up in 2020.
He said that the ministry did not want a repetition of what happened after the hosting of the 2012 festival in Lagos.
“The hosting right was given to Cross River state when they were going into the 2015 election year. The Governor of the state acquired the hosting right which he handed over to a new governor who didn’t consider the right to be as important as the man who got it.
“We want to ensure that what happened to the 19th edition whereby it was postponed for six years does not happen again. I decided that the next National Sports Festival will go to a state where there will be no elections in 2019.
“If you give the hosting rights to a governor who will hold elections in 2019, he will collect it and go to
“If he wins or loses, the process of inspection, infrastructural update and regular meetings by the Council of Sports will be put on hold until after elections.”
He also debunked allegations that the hosting right was given to Edo state based on sentiments.
The Permanent Secretary said preparation for Edo 2020 would commence in January 2019.
