The Presidential Investigative Committee on the vandalism of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on Monday submitted its report to the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare.
In his submission, chairman of the the committee, DIG Sanni Mohammed (retd)thanked the Federal Government through the Minister for finding the committee members worthy of the assignment, stating the Committee adhered strictly to the terms of reference and did its utmost to make far-reaching recommendations.
Sanni revealed that in the course of their assignment, the committee undertook physical inspection of the Stadium, went through its investigation adopting standard best practices.
He advised that in subsequent committees of similar jurisdiction, the terms of reference should include powers to investigate “any other incidental matter relating to the subject matter”.
Throwing some light into the committee’s recommendations, Sanni stated thus, “One of our key recommendations is that protocol and security officials should be involved in the planning stage of future events or tournaments while the sale of bottled water and canned drinks should be banned within the precincts of the football pitch as they can be weaponised.”
In his remarks, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ismaila Abubakar, expressed optimism that the report will assist the Ministry in preventing a future recurrence.
Meanwhile, Dare after receiving the report, thanked the committee for the extensive nature of their work which he stated is very impressive.
He promised full implementation of the report, whilst emphasising its recommendations with serve as new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Ministry and NFF in planning for future events.
Restating his resolve to sanction culprits of the vandalism, Dare assured that where they are identified in the report, the full weight of the law will brought upon them to serve as a deterrent.