Godwin Dudu-Orumen, Executive Chairman, Edo State Sports Commission, on Wednesday in Abuja lamented his exclusion from the 2020 National Sports Festival, tagged “Edo 2020”.
Dudu-Orumen made the revelation on Wednesday when a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria asked to know the state’s level of preparation for the festival following the lifting of the ban on contact sports by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
He said that Philip Shuaibu, the Edo Deputy Governor, who is also the Chairman, Local Organising Committee of the festival, is the right person to know the preparations.
“The Deputy Governor of Edo, Philip Shuaibu, is in a better position to answer questions on the National Sports Festival; I am a spectator.
“Statutorily, I am in charge of sports, but politically, the deputy governor won’t let me do my job; so I am watching.
“I am not in a position to say anything on the sports festival because I have no role and the Minister of Youth and Sports Development should be able to tell us if the festival will hold.
“The minister should also tell us when it will hold, and if it will not hold, he should tell us why?
“Even on the preparation of athletes for the festival, I don’t know what is happening because the job was shared to other people,” Dudu-Orumen said.
The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development had before the lifting of the ban on contact sports, said that the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival would hold, but with only non-contact games.
NAN reports that COVID-19 pandemic which led to the suspension of sports activities since March 18, caused the indefinite suspension of the National Sports Festival which was initially scheduled for March 22 to April 1.
It was also fixed for October 3 to October 13 and later moved to October 25 to November 4.