Olympics: Reps want immediate release of funds for Team Nigeria

The House of Representatives has called on the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation and the Budget Office to immediately release the fund meant for Team Nigeria’s participation in next month’s Olympics Games in Rio, Brazil.

Adopting a motion by Rep Danburam Abubakar Nuhu (APC, Kano), the House described as unfortunate a situation where team Nigeria was yet to resume camp less than a month to the Olympics Games.

Consequently, the House mandated its committee on sports to invite the minister of sports and the president of the Nigeria Olympics team for an update on the level of preparation for the games and report back within one week.

The green chamber also called on the sports ministry to ensure it followed up and facilitate the release of the fund for the Olympics Games.

Leading debate on the motion, the lawmaker said team Nigeria lacked the fund to adequately prepare for the games compared to their counterparts in other countries, noting that the team ought to be in camp by now as part of preparation for the games in August.

He said although the fund for the Olympics Games was approved in the 2016 budget, it was yet to be released, saying “this kind of preparation and 11th hour release of funds usually mar the performance of team Nigeria.”

The motion was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers present at plenary.