President Muhammadu Buhari will not be allowed to use the Godswill
Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, for his campaign on Friday, the state
government has said.
Buhari is scheduled to visit Akwa Ibom on Friday to flag off his
re-election campaign in the state.
The president’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), requested
the use of the stadium for the campaign.
The state government has directed the president and the APC to make use
of another stadium – the Uyo Township Stadium – which accommodates a far lesser
number of people compared to the 30,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio stadium.
“The next season of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) is
scheduled to begin on January 13, 2018. In view of this and the fixtures of
home matches for Akwa United FC, it will be practically
impossible to ‘regrass’ the stadium for pre-fixed matches, if used for non-sports activities, because of the nature of pressure that such events bring on the pitch,” the Commissioner for Sports in the state,
Monday Uko, said in a statement issued on Friday.
impossible to ‘regrass’ the stadium for pre-fixed matches, if used for non-sports activities, because of the nature of pressure that such events bring on the pitch,” the Commissioner for Sports in the state,
Monday Uko, said in a statement issued on Friday.
“Additionally, The Maintenance Contractor (Julius Berger) had also
advised that the present atmospheric conditions being very hostile to the
pitch, the facility should not be used for non-sport activities
during this harmattan period, so as to avoid inflicting long-term or irreversible damage to the grass on the football pitch,” Uko said.
during this harmattan period, so as to avoid inflicting long-term or irreversible damage to the grass on the football pitch,” Uko said.
Uko also said the explanation became necessary because “political actors
and commentators” in the state were trying to use the issue to pit the state
government against President Buhari.
The commissioner went further to say that the annual state-sponsored Christmas
Carol night in Uyo took place in the Uyo Township Stadium, instead of the
earlier proposed Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, because of the same
reason.
The Christmas Carol night was held on Friday.
The Commissioner added, “The stadium from its inception has been under a
maintenance contract with Julius Berger Construction Company. They operate all
the sensitive and non-sensitive components of the
facility.
facility.
“They had closed for the year and proceeded on vacation (as it has been
their usual practice) and are due to resume on January 7, 2018.
The implication of this is that the technical capacity required to
activate the venue is currently unavailable, and this is not within our
control.
“The Ministry has however approved, in the alternative, the use of the
Uyo Township Stadium for the event. We guarantee that the approved venue is in
perfect condition,” he said.
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