FG Says No Communication From Edo Govt To Shut Down National Sports Festival Over Paucity Of Funds

The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development on Thursday, says it got no official communication from the Edo State Government to shut down the 20th National Sports Festival, Edo 2020 over paucity of funds.

The Ministry and the Main Organizing Committee (MOC) for the festival are unaware of any plans or threat by the Edo State Government to shut down the sports festival as there has been no official meeting or communication that relayed such information, Ramon Balogun
Assistant Director Press, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, said in a statement.

He said that the Sport Minister, Permanent Secretary and Directors are on ground in Benin City where the Festival is holding.

According to him, it is expected that the Edo State Government would formally invite the Ministry for a meeting should any urgency exist around the National Sports Festival or communicate officially with the Main Organizing Committee (MOC) for the festival.

The Ministry has no such communication, he added.

“For the records, the Edo State government due to the cost implications of postponements occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic requested financial assistance from the Federal government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.

“The Ministry has since been at work to secure the financial assistance which it believes is being processed. The MYSD and EDSG are determined to deliver a successful National Sports Festival”, the statement said.

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BIGPENNGR recalls that the Governor Godwin Obaseki led Edo State Government, hosts of the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin, had threatened to shut down the 13-day event by 12 noon Thursday, an official said late Wednesday.

Musa Ebomhiana, Project Manager with the Media and Communications Sub-Committee of the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC), said the decision was necessitated by Federal Government’s refusal to fulfill a promise.

He said the Federal Government failed to support the state with funds as promised, and the state government had no choice other than shutting down the festival.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this decision was taken after an emergency meeting of the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) headed by the Edo Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.

“You can quote me, that we just finished from an emergency meeting of the LOC, and as I speak with you we have decided to shut down the festival by 12 noon tomorrow (Thursday).

“The decision was arrived at because the Federal Government has reneged on its promise to assist the state with funds.

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“Because of that, we are closing the festival,” Ebomhiana stated.

He however did not disclosed how the LOC was going to shut down the festival.