April 13, (THEWILL) – The National Stadium in Lagos and the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium in Ibadan have accrued a staggering N950m in electricity bills, according to Sports Minister, Sunday Dare.
The Minister made this known during his recent visit to both stadiums. “As of five years ago, the National Stadium, Lagos owed N600m in electricity bills while the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium owed about N350m. The water in Ibadan was restored after N150m was paid,” said Dare.
The electricity distribution company in charge of the Lagos stadium stopped sending bills to the sporting arena in 2018, after futile attempts to get the money paid by the sports authorities. The rot of the Lagos stadium was also bemoaned by the Minister, where work is ongoing inside the main bowl pitch, tartan tracks and scoreboard, courtesy of billionaire businessman, Kessington Adebutu’s N400m sponsorship.
Dare stated that the National Sports Industry Policy, which was approved last November by President Muhammad Buhari (retd.), would help attract private funding to the sports sector.
Dare also added that following the harsh economic conditions in the country, the Federal Government had made moves to return some of its stadiums to the states. “The technical committee and the finance ministry are working out the brochure of incentives because that’s what the private sector needs to come in,” Dare said.
The Minister’s visit to both stadiums brings to fore the dearth of funding that sports facilities are currently grappling with in the country.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
