Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, says the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja will soon undergo a facelift.
The minister’s Special Adviser on Media, John Joshua-Akanji, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Dare, the ministry is in the final stage of an agreement with Dangote Group which took up the rehabilitation of the stadium.
He assured that contractors would soon be moving to site.
“Work will soon commence at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
“We were on the verge of completing the documentation process and 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 shutdown as the case maybe,” he said.
Dare said that the process to commence work had, however, continued despite the challenges.
“Remember, it is a private company and they had to go through a lot of processes; they had to invite more than 8 different contractors.
“They had to visit the stadium, 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.
“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 plan to recoup anything to maintain the national stadium,” he said.
On his plans for other national stadia in the country, the minister said plans were ongoing to concession the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
He said the ministry was trying to source for special intervention funds of about N5 to N10 billion to renovate and upgrade other sporting assets across the country.
