As the Rio Olympics 2016 steadily moves on to a close, the mystery behind the lack of funds for the Nigerian athletes and sportsmen logistics before the commencement of the Olympics despite the release of N2.7 billion by the Federal Government in 2015 is still yet to be explained.
The Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung had raised an alarm denying knowledge of how the released funds were spent by the disbanded National Sports Commission (NSC).
It was gathered that the Federal Government had approved N2.7 billion to be released through the NSC for the participation of Nigerian athletes at the last All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, Youths Olympics in China and preparation for Rio 2016.
However, following the poor preparation for the Rio Olympics in Nigeria which has been blamed on the paucity of funds, questions have arisen as to how the approved funds were disbursed.
The minister had on April 1, 2016 said, “It is true President Buhari approved N2.9 billion last year to the defunct NSC. But as I speak today as the Minister, I don’t think I have got enough information about how the money was spent.
“The story of N2.9 billion is of serious concern to me like any one. Since the former director general told the media that they gave him the money, I am asking the same question.”
Dalung had further said he was not provided with enough information by the former Director General of NSC, Alhassan Yakmut, about the disbursement of the money.
Now that the Rio Olympics is drawing to a close, the question is whether the minister will launch an investigation to determine what happened to the said funds or not.