National Sports Festival: Why Sports Minister was absent at the #Edo2020 closing ceremony!

National Sports Festival: Why Sports Minister was absent at the #Edo2020 closing ceremony!

After 13 days filled with tears of joy, the agony of defeat, and a sprinkle of expected drama and controversy, the 2020 edition of the National Sports Festival #Edo2020 has come to end.

The closing ceremony was colorful and fun-filled but the presence of the Sports Minister, Mr. SundayDare didn’t go unnoticed at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.

There have been talks in the media as regards why the Minister shunned the closing ceremony but the real reason why he was absent at the closing ceremony has been revealed.

The stunts of the Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Philips Shuaibu during the festival and the unfriendly attitudes of the host state itself made the Minister canceled his scheduled appearance at the ceremony.

Last Wednesday, the National Sports Festival almost came to an abrupt end after officials of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youths Development were thrown out of the Secretariat of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium on orders of the Deputy Governor.

Normalcy was eventually restored but the Deputy Governor remained restless as he continued to demand funds for the National Sports Festival from the Federal Government.

However, documents reveal that the Edo State Government only appealed to the Government through the Ministry of Sports for funds which validate the fact that no agreement for funds was initially reached between the Edo State Government and the Federal Government.

However, Mr. Philip Shuaibu was unrepentant in his demands for funds which made some stakeholders conclude that the Deputy Governor is acting as though the Federal Government is indebted to Edo State for the National Sports Festival.

Source