The House of Representatives Committee on Sports yesterday
expressed dissatisfaction with the renovated Abuja National Stadium pitch.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, who led his members on oversight
function to the stadium, described the N96.6million used for the re-grassing of
the pitch as doubtful.
Speaking to newsmen, the legislator said the House committee was
disappointed with the level of work carried out by Julius Berger Plc, saying
there is not enough drainage to drain water after rain fall.
“The re-grassing is just an aspect of the renovation and they
(NSC) said today that it cost them N96.6m to do. “My verdict is that I am not
comfortable with the water- logging on the pitch.
I was in Calabar and it rained for three days before the match
(against Malawi) and you cannot compare Calabar that is in tropical environment
to Abuja that is in the Savannah where rain is lighter,” Gaiya said.
“So, if it rained in Calabar for three days when Nigeria played
Malawi and I never saw anything like waterlog spot but ordinary drizzling
caused water ponds on the renovated Abuja pitch.”
The Representative vowed that the National Sports Commission
(NSC) must give detailed account of all their spending for the stadium
renovation, even as he regretted that the House has no powers to summon the
contractor, Julius Berger, for explanation.
“We never entered into any contractual agreement with Julius
Berger. Our oversight function rests on the NSC.
It is the NSC that will bring their client to order when our
observations are made known to them. “We wonder if they can relay the message
to Julius Berger to get it done the way every Nigerian will be comfortable
with,’’ he added. He further described the ceremony that followed the
renovation as un-called for. Earlier at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
for similar oversight function, the House Committee on Sports assured the NFF
of increased funding in the 2014 budget.
NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, told members of the
committee that the N1.6billion given to the NFF for fiscal 2013 was grossly
inadequate considering the age-group national teams it had to carter for.
Maigari noted that about N100m was spent on Nigeria’s
participation at the U-20 2013 World Cup in Turkey, while N170m was used to
prosecute the Confederation Cup hosted by Brazil in June. The Committee’s
oversight function will continue today in Lagos, while the train will move to
Kaduna next Monday.
National mirror
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