BY OBA ADEDARASIMI
The federal government will spend a little over N12 billion on sports next year as captured in the 2022 Appropriation Bill, The Point can report.
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, submitted the 2022 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly and the lawmakers promised that the budget will be passed before the end of the year.
According to the breakdown of the budget proposal, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, the federal government allocated a total of N193.3 billion to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, but a paltry N12.3 billion will be expended on sports with the National Youth Service Corps, a parastatal under the ministry, taking the largest chunk of the budget.
A whopping N178.8 billion is allocated to the scheme.
Of the roughly N12.2 billion the sports section of the ministry get, N10 billion will go to the headquarters while the Nigeria Football Federation will get N1.2 billion.
The National Institute for Sports has also seen its allocation jacked up to a little over N1 billion.
The national headquarters will spend N2.1 billion on personnel while another N2 billion will go for other overhead costs. N5.8 billion will go into capital expenditure, according to the proposal.
The construction of the National Sports Medicine and High-performance Centre which will gulp about N350 million is one of the major projects that will be embarked upon by the ministry next year.
The NFF has in its envelope of N905 million for overhead costs while a little over N125 million will be spent on its staff. The capital expenditure spending stands at N225 million.
Some of the major capital spending are the construction of pavilion and spectators sitting area at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project at Package B National Stadium, Abuja put at N65 million; construction of Ebonyi State Football Association House will gulp N20 million while the purchase of vans and buses for the national teams will take about N100 million.
However, it is instructive to note that the NFF enjoys massive support for funding outside of the main budget as it is captured in the Presidential Special Intervention Funds which ensures funding of the national teams for major matches and tournaments.
For instance, the funding for Nigeria’s participation at the African Cup of Nations which is slated to begin in Cameroon in January next year is not captured in the appropriation but despite monies from the Confederation of African Football and sponsors, the largest chunk of the funding ahead of the tournament will come from the federal government through the Presidential Special Intervention Funds.
