The chairman of Edo 2020 National Sports Festival Committee, Tonobok Okowa, has cleared the air concerning reports in some media that the festival had been scheduled for October this year, stating that only the Federal Government can fix the dates.
Okowa, who is the chairman of Delta Sports Commission, said that the dates being circulated by a section of the media was a recommendation that came up after the committee reviewed the situation on ground with the Edo state government.
“In the first place, we as committee cannot fix a date for the National Sports Festival.
It is the sole responsibility of Sports Ministry to fix the date after getting clearance from the relevant agencies handling the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He continues: “What Edo State government did was to suggest tentative dates, which the sports ministry will have to look into. It is wrong for some people to go to town saying that we have fixed a date for Edo 2020 National Sports festival.”
The festival had suffered an initial postponement in March this year due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic worldwide. The presidential committee was set up by the federal government to see to the hosting of the biennial event, which is aimed at discovering, and nurturing of local talents to represent Nigeria in regional and international sporting events.
The Minister of Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare had inaugurated the 11-man committee to inspect all health facilities for the festival in Edo State so as to ascertain the readiness of the state in hosting the sports festival.