‘Delta Committed to Hosting Senior African Athletics Championship’

Contract approved for additional work on Keshi Stadium in Asaba

In fulfillment of the pledge of the Delta State government to host the Senior African Athletics Championship, the State Executive Council on Tuesday approved the contract for additional works and variation of the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.

The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, speaking after a meeting in Asaba, disclosed that the approval is a follow-up to that given for the completion of the second phase outstanding works in the stadium last month by the state’s EXCO.

He further revealed that the EXCO officially approved the hosting of the 21st edition of the Senior African Athletics Championship, tagged ‘Asaba 2018’ which is scheduled to hold from August 1 to 5, 2018.

Ukah observed that the governor had, on rising from the EXCO meeting on Tuesday, took all members of the executive council to inspect ongoing work in the stadium for on-the-spot assessment of the level of work carried out.

The governor, while commending the extent of work so far executed, challenged the contractor to increase the tempo of work in order to meet the June deadline for completion of all work on the stadium.

Specifically, Governor Okowa advised the contracting firm to engage more hands and consider working outside normal hours by extending working hours to night.

According to Ukah, the meeting also approved the Implementation Design and Expenditure Plan for 2018/2019 cycle of job creation programmes - Skill Training Entrepreneur Programme (STEP) and Youth Agricultural Entrepreneur Programme (YAGEP) - as part of the state government’s drive to create wealth.