Buhari Minister Clarifies News Reports That Says Ministry Needs N81m To Cut Abuja Stadium Grass

Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has emphasised that spending scarce resources to fix sporting infrastructure is more important than spending money to cut the grass around the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

AllNews reports that Dare said he believes merely cutting the grass would amount to not just gross waste of scarce resources, but misplacement of priorities. 

A  statement on Sunday by the Minister's Media Adviser, John Joshua Akanji said the headline by the author of the story was not only misleading but incongruous.

With the content, "it has become imperative and a necessity to clear the air on the misleading headline by a newspaper that the Minister would spend 81 Million to clear grass at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja. 

"What the Minister said was that it would be wrong and a misplaced priority to spend a huge amount to cut grass when there are so many other competing matters that need to be attended to.

"The Minister said: 'A one-time clearing of the stadium would cost 81million. If I tell  Nigerians that I would be spending 81MIllion  to cut grass so that there would be no rats and grasscutters, what do you think of their response? The same press would condemn such action as waste of money and misplacement of priorities'.

Akanji said this declaration was made at a public function.  

"It is therefore unethical, mischievous, unprofessional, and unfair to twist the statement to suit the interest of the writer," he added.

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This newspaper understands that work is ongoing at the Moshood  Abiola National Stadium Abuja, a sports centre that sits on a 43- hectare of land and is expected to be completed in early 2021.