Contrary to the threat by the local organizing committee of
the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival, Edo 2020, to bring it to an abrupt
close, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has said that the sports
fiesta will go on as planned.
The local organizing committee of the sports festival, had
late Wednesday night threatened to bring the competition to an end, following
failure by the federal government to redeem its pledge for funds.
It would be recalled that the state governor, Mr. Godwin
Obaseki, had complained that the state was broke, having expended its meager
resources to managing the Coronavirus pandemic.
But the federal minister of youth and sports development,
Sunday Dare, assured that the federal government will release funds to the host
state, to host the sports fiesta tagged Edo 2020.
The main organizing committee of the event in a statement on
Thursday said it was not aware of plans or threats by Edo to shut down the
festival.
The statement signed by the assistant director press of the
ministry, Ramon Balogun, noted the Minister of Youth and Sports Development,
Mr. Sunday Dare, the Permanent Secretary, and directors of the ministry are all
on ground in Benin, the venue of the festival.
Read the full text of the statement:
“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.
“The Honorable Minister, Permanent Secretary and Directors
are on ground in Benin City where the Festival is holding, and 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.
“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.”
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment