Minister awaits UCI’s approval of Abuja Velodrome

The Minister of Sport s, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has expressed happiness that the Velodrome of the Abuja National Stadium would be effectively used by the Nigeria Cycling Federation, which came to visit him in company with a prominent member of the International Cycling Union, Andrew Tonti, in Abuja to inspect the Velodrome in anticipation of approving it for use by the World Cycling body.
The President of Nigeria Cycling Federation, Alhaji Mohammed Nur Sheriff, with his Federation members and Tonti paid a courtesy visit to Abdullahi on Tuesday and told him of his Federation’s resolve to start making use of the Abuja National Stadium’s Velodrome but needed the approval of the UCI to do so.
Tonti was in Nigeria to inspect the facilities.
Abdullahi said: “It was easy for us to arrange the courtesy call because I was excited about the possibilities that we have in cycling velodrome like we discussed at the Sports Convention in Ilorin, Kwara State meeting.
“We are also aware of the fact that the Abuja velodrome is among the only two velodrome we have in Africa.
“So we will be happy if the ICU could sanction (approve) the use of the velodrome in the interest of the sport not only in
Nigeria and also in the continent.
“We will continue to support the development of sports in general and cycling in particular.”