Athletes and officials of the Rivers State contingent to the 19th National Sports Festival (NSF) are still threatening to withdraw from the event if their salaries and allowances are not paid, Daily Trust can report.
Several of the athletes and officials, who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity, said they have not been paid their emoluments for the past one year, and are now considering withdrawing from the Sports Festival.
The Rivers State contingent arrived Abuja late on Thursday evening and missed the parade and March past of the opening ceremony as a result, fueling speculations they may have already boycotted the event, and media reports on Saturday claimed they had threatened to withdraw.
“We have not been paid for a year now and we left Port Harcourt on the day the festival began, arriving Abuja late at night,” one of the athletes told Daily Trust on the condition of anonymity.
“All they’re talking about in Rivers State are the 2019 elections and nothing else. We have always represented the state well, and we deserve to get paid for our efforts,” the athlete said further.
The complaints notwithstanding, Rivers won a gold medal in the cycling on the opening day of the festival. Gladys Tombrapa won the medal in the women’s 200 metres event inside the velodrome of the Abuja National Stadium.
Following the medal win, one of the team officials informed that winning the medal showed the potential they had, but warned that they could leave Abuja because of ‘hunger’, calling on the Rivers State government and its governor, Nyesom Wike, to come to their rescue.
“One year is a long time to work and not get paid and we are calling on Governor Nyesom Wike to come to our rescue by paying the monies owed to us,” the official said.
However, the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Barrister Emma Okah said the State government had released all the allowances and emoluments of the State contingents at the on going National Sports Festival taking place in Abuja.
Barrister Okah who spoke with our reporter on telephone, Saturday said that the State Governor had approved the release of money for the contingents.
“I read about it in the newspaper and I don’t think that report reflects the true position of the matter. The State Government has released money for the payment of emoluments of the athletes,” Okah told our reporter on telephone.
The Festival runs from December 6 through the 16th.
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