Sports
Lottery contract scam: Senate worries over N3trn loses annually

***ask parties to settle out of court
The Senate panel on Sports under the chairmanship of Senator Obinna Ogba, has told Infrastructure Regulatory Commission, Bureau for Public Procurement and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, to settle their disagreement with System Numeric out of Court.
The Committee gave the advice last Thursday, when the waring parties appeared before it.
The advice is also in line with the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation that the matter should be settled out of court to save Nigeria the loss of over N3 trillion revenue being lost annually, due to the impasse
Senators, while condemning the shenanigans of Government agencies in the handling of the bid that led to the legal action, gave both parties two weeks within which they should settle out of court.
The Lottery Commission and the Bureau for Public Procurement, allegedly shunned due process in the bidding process for the LPAAS contract.
System Numeric is accusing the Lottery Commission and Bureau for Public Procurement of violating due process in the bidding process for the contract as contained in the Act establishing the Lottery Commission.
In compliance with the requirement spelt out during the bidding process in 2012, the company submitted a technical proposal in which the financial proposal was a section.
The other company submitted its technical and financial bids as separate documents in violation of Section 13, Page 17 of the Lottery Commission’s request for proposal, RFP.
According to documents available, the rival bidder failed to submit the performance bond as required, whereas System Numeric provided performance bond of N500,000,000.00 that was sourced from a bank.
Chief executive officer of System Numeric, Chief Athan Nneji Achonu, while briefing newsmen after the interface with Committee, gave an insight into what happened.
Achonu told newsmen: “It is a very sad day for me that I should come to this hallowed place to cry about a cabal that has been trying to hijack this process since 2012 and deny Nigeria of income of over N3 trillion.
“I won a contract to deploy this platform to monitor every lottery activity in this country. The first attempt they made was to bring in a fake company. This was taken to the House of Representatives and their verdict was that System Numeric was the only company that was qualified.
“They now changed tactics, started moving around to Italy, to Spain; they will bring one group of the other. Management changed but the same cabal would not budge. Because of their selfish interest, they have denied this country of tremendous revenue, that was why I had to cry to the Senate to give us justice.
“The infrastructure regulatory body was the only one appointed by Government to do the due deligence and they said the same.
I went to court because they want to award it. Then the Federal Government intervened and called for an out of court settlement and that they have been losing.
“While we were in court, they went to negotiate with an Italian group to show the level of disrespect these people have for the judiciary. The Attorney-General of the Federation wrote a letter to them to settle out of court as the matter can go on indefinitely.
“It is obvious that a party that won this should be invited and awarded the contract”, but uptill today they have not invited my company. Even with a court injunction, they went behind to discuss with an Italian company
“We have a Central Monitoring System technology platform strictly for monitoring all the types of games within the jurisdiction and controlled by the game regulator. The system also as a regulator is a platform connected to every licensed operators.”
Sports
FG to partner with Spain for sports development

In its bid to ensure that the huge sporting potentials are tapped for socio-economic growth and development of the nation, the Federal Government has expressed its desire to collaborate with Spain and other countries of the world in the field of sports.
The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh spoke in Abuja when he received the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Juan Ignacio Sell

Director of Press and Public Relations Mohammed Manga quote him to have stated that Spain was undoubtedly a renowned country in the field of sports, especially its Football League, the Spanish La Liga, a feat which the present administration is interested in replicating in the country.

Sports diplomacy, Enoh added, has become a very potent weapon in global diplomacy, and the President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, have recognised Nigeria’s huge sporting potentials.
According to him, that explains why he created the Ministry of Sports Development with a mandate to work assiduously towards ensuring that the potentials are harvested and adequately deployed.
This he said is not only to enable the country join the comity of sporting nations of the world but also provide for job creation, poverty alleviation, security and inclusiveness through women participation in sports
“The potentials of sports in Nigeria is huge, the present administration intends to turn this potential to achievements, to go beyond the world of potentials and also make Nigeria become a renowned country in the field of sports”, he said
The Minister who was earlier presented with a copy of an MoU that was signed by the previous administration, assured the Spanish Ambassador of Federal Government’s determination to collabobate with other nations of the world, especially in the area of sports development.
He explained that the resolutions contained in the MoU will be looked at so as to identify areas of mutual benefit to both nations
Speaking earlier, the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency,Juan Ignacio Sell indicated that he was in the Ministry to congratulate the Minister on his appointment and to further seek for collaboration with Nigeria in the field of sports.
According to him, Nigeria is a country that has high potentials in sports that can be harnessed and if adequately tapped, the country will join the commity of sporting nations
He expressed the willingness of his country to collaborate with Nigeria, not only to harness its sporting potentials but also to turn them into achievements for the benefit of both countries
Sports
Enoh urges Sports Federations to be result driven

The minister of sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has called on Sports Federations in the country to be result oriented hunting for talents at the grassroots while helping current elite competitors strive to raise the nation’s flag high through podium fniishes in all competitions.
Director Press and Public Relations Mohammed Manga in a statement quoted the minister to have made the call on Wednesday in his office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja when he engaged the Presidents and Secretaries of National Sports Federations in an interactive session.

Enoh stated that the meeting was aimed at providing him with the opportunity to holistically assess the state of affairs of all Federations with a view to systematically addressing them for the development of the sector.
He said, the Ministry under his watch, will continue to play its statutory, supervisory and advisory roles on all sports Federations in the country in order to ensure proper governance as well as oversight on the plans each Federation executes.
The Minister charged them to show more commitment, passion and be focused in their activities so as to ensure success in their fields of sporting endeavours in line with the policy thrust of the present administration
While urging them to place the interest of the country above their personal interests, Senator Owan Enoh assured that government will focus on turning the tide to place less emphasis on positions and offices but instead on athletes’ welfare, infrastructure upgrade and development of the sector, among others.
The Minister who described the Federations as critical stakehokders in the industry, called on them to join hands with the federal government to ensure the development of the sector
Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Sports Development, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar stated that the meeting was conveyed to provide an opportunity to interact and brainstorm on issues that bother on efficiency and effectiveness of the Federations with a view to finding solutions administratively for them.
He assured that the Ministry will continue to create an enabling environment for the implementation of the initiatives, policies, programmes and projects of government for the empowerment of the teeming Nigerian youth through sports, thereby alleviating poverty, improving security and also contributing to the economic growth and development of the nation.
Sports
Enoh commends athletes forclinching medals at first African Paragames

The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has congratulated Team Nigeria for again, making the nation proud by clinching two medals in the women’s wheel chair tennis, singles and doubles categories.

A statement by thr director of Press and Public Relations Mohammed Manga quoted Senator Owan Enoh, to have stated in his message to the athletes and officials that Nigeria was able to join 20 other countries to compete for laurels at the Games despite dwindling resources which he said had demonstrated the commitment of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration to poverty alleviation and empowerment of people living with disabilities through sports.

He explained that the participation of Team Nigeria at the Competition which is the first of its kind, held after over three and half decades of the establishment of the African Sports Confederation of the Disabled/African Paralympic Committee (AfPC), will in addition, afford the nation’s Para Athletes an opportunity to experience a Multi-Para Sporting event on the African Continent.
According to him the Competition, with about 6000 participants, will, among others, serve as a Catalyst for further development and promotion of Para-Sports in Africa
He reiterated the commitment of the present administration’s resolve to ensuring the creation of an enabling environment for the athletes and in particular, athletes living with disabilities in the country, not only to afford them the opportunity to showcase their sporting talents across the globe but also to raise the nation’s flag high through podium finishes at all international competitions.
Senator Enoh noted that although, Team Nigeria had won only two medals so far at the ongoing competition, Nigerians will ever remain grateful to them for their patriotism, especially considering their excellent performances in other international competitions in the near past.
He added that as the Minister of Sports Development, he has
passionate support for Para-Sports, and thus will not live any stone unturned in ensuring that under his watch, the existing medium already created and dedicated to coordinate, promote and manage the development of Para – Sports in Nigeria is strengthened for better performance.
This, he said, will make it possible to utilize Para-Sports as a veritable tool for accelerated social integration and inclusion of persons living with disabilities, in line with the policy thrust of the present administration.
The Minister, therefore, called on relevant stakeholders in the industry as well as sports loving Nigerians to lend their support, especially towards the development of Para-Sports in the country with a view to also giving the athletes, a sense of belonging
Team Nigeria is expected back from the 10-day event on Wednesday 13, September
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