Certainly there are still no clear indications that the much postponed National Sports Festival (NSF) will hold by the first quarter of next year as earlier stated by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Barr. Solomon Dalung.
The festival which was originally billed to take place in Calabar, the Cross River capital in 2014 has suffered several postponements; a development that forced the Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung to threaten to stage the games in Abuja by the first quarter of next year.
Apart from the several excuses being given by Cross Rivers, another issue that got Dalung upset was when the state reportedly requested the federal government through the sports ministry to give it the sum of N650 million naira to enable it put finishing touches to its preparations.
But a reliable source at the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) told sports Vanguard that till date the administration is yet to get any communication from the Ministry of Youth and Sports concerning the hosting of the games in Abuja.
According to our source who pleaded anonymity, the projection of Dalung that the NSF will take place in the first quarter may not be feasible because by the beginning of the year what the agencies will be battling with is the budget which may dovetail to the second quarter.
“We at the FCT administration have heard the sports minister over the media talking about the sports festival taking place in Abuja by the first quarter of next year. But from my years of experience, there is a very high possibility that it may not be able to hold by that time because that is the time we will be pursuing the budget and approvals.
“It is obvious that Cross River State is not ready to host the festival. Remember that they were originally billed to host in 2014, they later pushed it to 2015 and now in 2016 they started asking the Sports Ministry for N650 million. All I know is that the festival can only hold by the first quarter of next year if they have kept the money for that.”
More Confusion Over National Sports Festival
