Moshood Abiola National Stadium Will Come To Life Soon, Nigeria’s Sports Minister

The Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja will soon get a facelift as the final stage of the agreement with Dangote Group is almost concluded.

This was revealed by the Minister for Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare who promised that work on the stadium will soon commence.

According to the minister, “We were on the verge of completing the documentation process, review contracting process for the rehabilitation of the Moshood Abiola Stadium before Covid-19 struck.

“We had to shut down the whole country, a global shut down as the case maybe.”

Dare further affirmed that “it is a private company and they had to go through a lot of processes. They had to invite more than eight different contractors. They have to visit the stadium. They have to turn in their bill of quantity and also sit on a review board.

“They also had to decide which contractor was the most suitable to give us the best job.

“Being the National Stadium, all of these take time; they are normal standard operating procedure.

“I am glad to say that very soon, we are now at the stage of purchasing order and we must remember that we cannot force or accelerate the process because we are dealing with a well respected Nigerian who is bringing in his money without any plans to recoup anything to maintain the National Stadium.”

On plans for the other National Stadium in Lagos, Dare said: “Now we have concessions approval to concession the National Stadium Surulere. And the process has been ongoing but it was delayed due to lack of concession advisers.

“We have been able to overcome that. In the next couple of weeks, we will have those who are interested in taking over the stadium concession and hostel come forth and the normal process of concession will take place.

“We are also looking for special intervention funds of about 5- 10 billion Naira from the government that would enable us renovate and upgrade other sporting assets across the country” Dare concluded.