NSF: Edo Govt threatens to shut down festival- Official

The ongoing National Sports Festival taking place in Benin City, Edo State may be abruptly ended on Thursday.

A statement posted on the official Facebook page for the Festival suggests the Edo State Government is planning to end the games due to the alleged non-release of funds by the Federal Government as agreed.

Read the full statement posted on the Edo 2020 official Facebook page:

Edo Government is to shut down the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) by 12 noon on Thursday over the refusal of the Federal Government to support the State with the fund as promised.

This was disclosed to the TMC TV by Musa Ebomhiana, a project manager in the Media and Communication Sub-Committee for the games.

He said that the decision was taken after an emergency meeting of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) under the headship of the State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.

“You can quote me, we just finished from an emergency meeting of the LOC as I speak with you and we have decided to shut down the festival by 12 noon tomorrow (Thursday).

“The Federal Government has reneged on their promise of assisting the State with the fund and for that, we are closing the festival,” he stated.

It will be recalled that Edo State had solicited support from the Federal Government if they are to play host to the other states.

The 20th NSF has suffered a number of postponements due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rescheduled festival which commenced on April 2 is to last till April 14.