Sports minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung has admitted that there was an angle about politics in the choice of Edo State to host the next edition of the National Sports Festival in 2020.
Sports247.ng can report that Dalung stressed that it is imperative for the host state to have political stability, to avoid a situation in which a change in government affected plans by Cross River State to host the festival in 2014.
The festival eventually did not hold as planned, and was delayed for six years, until the sports ministry and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) rose to jointly-host the 19th edition, which came to a close on Sunday.
Dalung has now explained that knowing the Edo State will not have any gubernatorial election in 2019 makes it very conducive to believe that the sitting governor will be committed to ensuring the festival holds as planned in 2020.
Dalung expatiated: “The hosting right was given to Cross River state when they were going into the 2015 election year.
“The Governor of the state acquired the hosting right which he handed over to a new governor who didn’t consider the right to be as important as the man who got it.
“I needed to ensure that what happened to the 19th edition whereby it was postponed for six years didn’t happen again.
“I decided that the next National Sports Festival will go to a state where there will be no elections in 2019.
“If you give the hosting rights to a governor who will hold elections in 2019, he will collect it and go to campaign, so nothing will happen until after the election.
“If he wins or loses, the process of inspection, infrastructural update and regular meetings by the Council of Sports will be put on hold until after elections.
“If the selection was based on sentiments, I would have given it to Gov. El Rufai of Kaduna State but he has election in 2019 just like Gov. Okowa.
“If it was an APC agenda, I would have given it to Gov Rochas Okorocha but he is a terminal governor.
“He may collect the hosting rights and the in- coming governor may not be interested in it.
“So, I decided that the state that will get the rights will have no election in 2019 so that he can concentrate on the National Sports Festival.”
