Sports activities at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival have been brought to a standstill after athletes representing Ogun State staged a protest over unpaid allowances promised by the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration.
The demonstration, which involved hundreds of Ogun athletes, took place just two days before the end of the festival, which features sportsmen and women from across the country.
The aggrieved team members were said to have blocked the main entrance of Babcock University, venue of the camp for the games village, thereby obstructing buses transporting athletes en route to the camp to represent their respective states in various events.
During the protest, some athletes who spoke to newsmen on Wednesday confirmed that they had received the N50,000 earlier promised by the state government, as well as N140,000 as part of the festival allowance.
However, they insisted that the agreed allowance was N210,000, calculated at N15,000 per day for 14 days.
“We were paid N50,000 this morning, which was what the governor promised, but to our amazement, they began paying N140,000 as the festival allowance instead of N210,000,” one of the athletes lamented.
“We are yet to receive any payment, and we do not even know how much the state intends to pay us now as allowance,” another added.
Before the festival began, Governor Abiodun reportedly pledged cash rewards of N2.5 million for each gold medalist, N1.5 million for silver, and N1 million for bronze winners.
The Ogun team currently sits third on the medals table with 48 gold, 38 silver, and 47 bronze medals.
