President Buhari orders postponement of 2020 National Sports Festival
President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the postponement of the 2020 National Sports Festival.
The festival which was to be held from Sunday, March 22 to Wednesday, April 1 in Edo State has now been postponed.
The postponement was ordered by Buhari after
he was briefed of the danger of the festival happening amidst the
outbreak of coronavirus by the sports minister Sunday Dare and his health counterpart Osagie Ehanire.
“President Mohammadu Buhari
approves the postponement of the National Sports Festival Edo 2020 as a
precautionary move against COVID-19 spread,” Dare said on Twitter.
“Following the briefing of Mr. President from
myself and the Minister of State for Health on COVID 19, Mr. President
approved the immediate postponement of Edo Sports festival to a future
date.”
The briefing came after a third case of the
virus was confirmed in Nigeria by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control
(NCDC) on Tuesday, March 17.
Several persons also raised concerns about athletes coming in from the virus-hit European countries for the festival.
The National Sports Festival is a biennial
multi-sport event organized by the Federal Government of Nigeria through
the National Sports Commission for athletes from the 36 States of
Nigeria.
There was a six-year absence before it returned to Abuja in 2018.
President Buhari orders postponement of 2020 National Sports Festival
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