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Towards the end of last week the Chairman House Committee on Sports, Honourable Ekene Adams, decided to stir up the too harmonious sporting sector which many  had believed all is well in the sector. 

The Chairman accused   the Minister of Sports Development Senator John Enoh, of not showing enough sincerity in the Country Sports Development goals.

The Lawmaker said  the Minister since he was appointed, has not shown transparency in his dealings with the House. He wondered if the Minister's actions is more because he was a former lawmaker before been appointed as a Minister.

"The House Committee  on Sports and my personal self have been very co-operative with the Minister of Sports all these while but we have discovered it seems he is taking us for granted with some of the things we are seeing so far.

"We decided to accord him the ultimate regard and respect because he is a former legislator but we discovered he is taking us for granted which we find totally unacceptable" the Honorable member was quoted as saying.

He went further to accused the Minister of allocating budget for the renovation and maintenance of the Ahmadu Bello stadium in the 2024 budget after the stadium had been handed over to the Kaduna State Government.

Before that could go down, the Honorable member fired another salvo accusing the Minister of lacking transparency in the allocation of intervention funds for the 2024 Olympic Games to the Ministry of Sports Development.

He said the Nigeria Government doled out billions of naira each time the country participated in the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games. 

He frowned at the situation where most Sports Federation sponsored their athletes to qualify for Olympic Games without the Ministry's support but the Sports Ministry receives money from the government on behalf of the sports federations once they have qualified. 

He said, “80% of the National Sports Federation don't get a dime from the funds allocated for them in the budget in each calendar year.

He therefore advised the Federal Government to ensure that the intervention funds are scrutinised by the National Assembly before they are passed.

“The Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government prioritised transparency and accountability in allocation of funds and the intervention funds for the Olympic Games should follow the same procedure by involving the National Assembly in the scrutiny of the funds. This will ensure that the athletes, coaches and Presidents of the Federations benefit from the funds" he was quoted as saying.

Expectedly, the Minister could not allow such to be wished away. He immediately responded saying that Honourable member of the Federal House of Representative was trying  to push a strange narrative. He said Hon. Ekene Adams was bereft of facts and must have taken the burden of the office he occupies for granted, having acted in such an undignified and unparliamentary manner in the pursuit of his personal vendetta. 

He said that It is a common knowledge that Hon. Ekene Adams has been sick and indisposed since the beginning of this administration; he is at best, the Chairman of the House Committee on Sports in abstentia having to spend a lot of time in hospital taking care of his health.  He said as a result of this reality, it is safe to conclude that Hon Ekene is out of touch with reality and therefore incompetent to make an informed comment and fully appreciate the ongoing raft of reforms in the sports sector under the guidance and leadership of the Minister of Sports Development. The instance wherein Hon. Adams said: "Why should the Minister still allocate budget for the renovation and maintenance of the Ahmadu Bello stadium in the 2024 budget after the stadium had been handed over to the Kaduna State Government", is a clear demonstration of his ignorance of the state of affairs within the sports sector and how out of touch he is. For the avoidance of doubt and to set the record straight, *NO BUDGETARY PROVISION WAS MADE FOR THE RENOVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF AHMADU BELLO STADIUM IN THE 2024 APPROPRIATION. If such a  provision was made, it would still constitute an indictment on the Committee on Sports he chairs whose duty it is to scrutinize the budget before passage.

On the allegation of opaqueness in the disbursement of the N12 billion Federal Government's Intervention Fund by the Ministry is spurious and untrue. The Minister denied that no such money was made available to his office, unless that made to the NFF to clear a backlog of debts which was remitted to the Federation.

The Minister said at the African Games, he held a no holds barred session with athletes, during which he openly provided every detail of their entitlements to  the last kobo. This  he said was hailed as the first of its kind. "Even at  the just concluded meeting of the National Council on Sports in Enugu, the Hon. Minister regretted that not every athlete and official had been paid but still gave assurances that under his watch, no one will either be short changed or denied his entitlements. Gladly, the Ministry is now in a strong position to put all matters about the African Games behind it within the next one week.This will still be a first, despite the regrettable delays" he said.

Be that as it maybe, when two elephants fight, the grass suffers the most. In this case, the sportsmen and the Federations suffer the most.

The Sports Ministry and the House Committee should endeavor to iron out the pressing issues for the interest of our Sports. The Minister as a former Legislature should know how these things work He was at the hallow chambers for many years, a statement he confirmed in his release. No matter how small a river might be, it deserves its own respect. It is only through the reciprocal attitude of human beings that enable a woman to born its like.

Many of our athletes have qualified for the and they should be rounding up their preparation by now. Payment of training grants should be the topmost priority of the Minister at this point, and the payment of the outstanding allowance should further motivate the athletes the more.

Agreed that our sporting sector has been peaceful for almost a year, this may not be the best time to begin this "my dog seniors your dog" movement.