The Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Sunday Dare, has said at least N21 billion is needed for the ongoing renovation of the national stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
Dare said the ministry has only been able to secure 4 percent of the amount needed for the renovation of the sporting edifice, TheCable reports.
He made the submission on Friday during an inspection tour on the ongoing work.
The national stadium was built in 1972.
In 1980, Nigeria won her first African Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy at the national stadium.
The national stadium, however, turned lifeless in the early 2000s when it last hosted national team matches.
“Kensington Adebutu, the chairperson of Premier Lotto, agreed to fund the refurbishment of the football pitch, tracks and digital scoreboard with N400 million,”.Dare said.
“80 percent of the job for all those three items is almost done,” he said.
He called for intervention from private organisations to adopt other facilities that require renovation in the stadium.
“We needed N21 billion to fix this place as at three years ago. We only got an injection of N400 million or maybe N400 million plus. About four percent of the 100 percent of what we need. We were realistic. We approached funders, and they asked for priority projects, and we listed eight of them,” Dare said.
“And the funder said he was going to do the football pitch and tracks and digital scoreboard. Now 80% of the job for all those three items is almost done.
“As I said, there is no silver bullet because if I need 100 percent and I have four percent with an additional two percent from the government, I have to keep going,” he stressed.
The minister revealed that the stadium owes at least N600 million in electricity bills in 2018.
“The water bill was over N150 million but we’ve been able to restore the water,” the minister said.
“As at five years ago, the PHCN bill of the stadium is N600 million. So I had the choice of taking the N400 million that I have to pay for that or doing the tracks and playing pitch.
‘The water bill was also immense but we’ve been able to restore the water. We were owing over N150 million in bills, but the water has been restored.
“When you look at the debt profile, it is huge. The stadium was left for 17 years with nothing happening,” he said.
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