The Minister of Youth and Sports, Barr. Solomon Dalung has decried the inability of the country’s athletes to embark on overseas training to prepare for 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Dalung who appeared yesterday before the Senate Committee on Sports said already the 78 athletes that have qualified ought to have started their foreign camping but for the lack of funds. He regretted that the N2.9 billion which President Mohammed Buhari released last year for the 2015 All Africa Games as well as the preparation for the Olympic was not effectively utilized for the purpose for which it was released.
However, Dalung vowed that every effort would be put in place to unravel how the money was expended. This is however, contrary to claims by the former Director General of the defunct National Sports Commission, Mallam Alhassan Yalkmut that he left behind over N640 million after the All Africa Games.
It was however, gathered the money was transferred into the Treasury Single Account, TSA introduced by the APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Nevertheless, the Minister
while expressing the positives so far said Nigeria has succeeded in making payments for the country’s participation as well as paying for the accommodation of the contingent.
“Let me say that this administration will do everything to unravel what happened to the money, I will assure you of that.” Earlier the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Obinna Ogba said the legislative arm of government has done everything during the budget defence to make sure that the athletes got all that will make them to excel adding that the federal government should do all it nerds to do to adequately prepare the athletes for the games.
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