The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has dismissed the allegations against him by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Honourable Ekene Adams, of being insincere with the development of sports in Nigeria as well as accusing the minister of opaqueness in the disbursement of FG’s N12 billion intervention fund.
A long and terse statement signed by the Director and Head, Press and Public Relations Unit in the Ministry, Mrs Kehinde Ajayi titled ‘Hon. Ekene Adams Lied Against the Minister of Sports Development – His Motivation is Self-serving and Unpatriotic’ and made available to Sporting Tribune, described the report credited to the federal lawmaker as hollow, unfounded and bereft of facts.
The statement added that Adams has taken for granted, the burden of the high office he presently occupies on behalf of his constituents and the responsibility that comes with it.
“The attention of the Ministry of Sports Development has been drawn to recent newspaper reports wherein Hon. Ekene Adams, the Chairman House Committee on Sports, accused the Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh of insincerity with the development of sports.
“Specifically, in his attempt to push this strange narrative, Honourable Adams said: “Why should the Minister still allocate budget for the renovation of and maintenance of the Ahmadu Bello stadium in the 2024 budget after the stadium had been handed over to the Kaduna State Government.
“In yet another publication, he also accused the Honourable Minister of opaqueness in the disbursement of FG’s N12 billion Intervention Fund. It is 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.
“The Honourable Minister of Sports Development has had to visit him in his sick bed in the hospital at some point. He didn’t have to do this. 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.
“The allegation of opaqueness in the disbursement of the N12 billion Federal Government’s Intervention Fund by the Ministry is spurious and untrue.
“First it is difficult to understand which N12b he is refering to. If it is the close to N12b that Mr. President intervened for outstanding debts owed various male and female football national teams, the Honourable Member should have been aware that the Honourable Minister instituted a new accountability and transparency process to ensure prudence in the management of the fund.
“He should have known that, although the entire money was released to the Ministry of Sports account, at the Honourable Minister’s directive, the entire sum was fully transferred to the account of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the appropriate body that incurred the outstanding debts, and this can be verified. Everyone in both the Ministry and the sector acknowledged and applauded this move as an uncommon display of transparency,” the statement read in part.
The statement added that the minister will continue to initiate robust and constructive engagements with patriotic and critical stakeholders in the sports sector in line with the mandate of his office and the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration while adding that the minister will always consider national interest to shape his decisions in the discharge of his duties.
