Umaru Bago, the governor of Niger State, has ordered Bako Kontagora Stadium to be closed immediately and renovated in accordance with Nigeria Football Federation guidelines.
This was revealed by Malam Danjuma Mansu, a member of the remodeling committee. He stated that the renovations and shutdown would take six weeks, following which NFF inspectors would check them to allow Niger Tornadoes FC to resume home games.
He stated that “For the past five years now, Niger Tornadoes team have been playing their matches outside the state; now we want to avoid the stress they go through to travel outside the state to play.”
“This will also reduce cost and risk, especially for people that travel with the team to watch them play as the governor believes that is the ideal thing to do,” .
He claimed that Mr. Abubakar Sadiq, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, was in charge of the remodeling committee.
According to Mansu, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sports Development and the Chairman of the State Revenue Board were also members of the committee.
He claims that the renovations are a fulfillment of the governor’s campaign pledges to appease the public’s desire to watch the team play at home.
He said that the N40 million cost of the upkeep will act as a backup plan till the current construction of the new stadium is finished.
