It’ll cost us N81m to cut grass in Abuja stadium, says Dare

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has revealed that it will cost the ministry N81m to cut the grass and clear the weed that have taken over the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

He stated this recently while speaking during the one-day seminar organised by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) FCT chapter.

According to him, the ministry approached the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) for assessment in the stadium, which was built in 2003 with N53 billion on a 29 hectares (72 acres) of land.

The stadium is divided into Package A which houses the Main Bowl and Package B which houses other facilities like basketball courts, NFF office, volleyball courts, tennis courts, squash courts.

“We approached AEPB to come see what can be done to clear the grass and weed in the stadium and they told us it will cost us N81m.

“If we tell Nigerians we used N81m which is not even available, there will be an outcry. The funds are not really there for us and that is why we are partnering with private investors to bring back the key components of our infrastructure,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct an earlier headline which did not reflect the body of the story.