Why We’re Denying Buhari Use Of Stadium For Campaign – Akwa Ibom Govt

President Muhammadu Buhari will not be allowed to use the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, for his campaign next Friday, the state government has said.
Mr Buhari is scheduled to visit Akwa Ibom on Friday to flag off his re-election campaign in the state.
The president’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), requested the use of the stadium for the campaign.
The state government, instead, has directed the president and the APC to make use of another stadium – the Uyo Township Stadium – which accommodates a far lesser number of people compared to the 30,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio stadium.
“The next season of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) is scheduled to begin on January 13, 2018. In view of this and the fixtures of home matches for Akwa United FC, it will be practically impossible to ‘regrass’ the stadium for pre-fixed matches, if used for non-sports activities, because of the nature of pressure that such events bring on the pitch,” the Commissioner for Sports in the state, Monday Uko, said in a statement issued on Friday.
“Additionally, The Maintenance Contractor (Julius Berger) had also advised that the present atmospheric conditions being very hostile to the pitch, the facility should not be used for non-sport activities during this harmattan period, so as to avoid inflicting long-term or irreversible damage to the grass on the football pitch,” Mr Uko said.