Dropped Kebbi Athletes Want Probe Of N10m

Irked by the decision to drop them from the Kebbi State contingent to the National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt,  25 track and field athletes have called for an investigation into how the N10 million released by the government was spent.

The aggrieved athletes told Tidesports source in BirniKebbi that their outstanding allowances were not paid before the departure of the contingent to Port Harcourt.

The athletes said that they had been training for the festival for the past two months only to be dropped at the last minute without the officials making arrangements for the payment of their allowances.

The Kebbi State contingent departed for Port Harcourt on Saturday for the National Sports Festival which holds from June 27 to July 11.

One of the athlete, who did not want his name published, said that they were told that only N10 million was released by the government for the festival.

He said the 25 athletes, initially selected to represent the state in track and field, were dropped “to our dismay and we were not paid any allowances”.

He said that they were told that money was not made available to pay their allowances in spite of the N10 million released by the government.

The athletes alleged that their colleagues, who made the team, were paid N20,000

out of the N30,000 earmarked for each person.

A group of special sports atheltes, who were unaware of the departure of the rest of the team, milled under a tree waiting.

The track and field coach, simply identified as Hassan, told our source on telephone that he was already in Port Harcourt expecting the 25 athletes but was shocked to learn that they had been dropped.

Sources said that N28 million was requested by the Kebbi State Ministry of Sports and Youth Development for the festival.

Efforts to get the comments of the Director of Sports, Tukur Kamba, were not fruitful.