Athletes Relief Fund disbursement transparent, says Gabriel Aduda

The Youth and Sports Development Ministry has declared that the process of selecting beneficiaries of the Athletes Relief Fund was transparent, fool proof and fair.

The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Gabriel Aduda, in a statement yesterday said, “There were certain criteria put into consideration in selecting beneficiaries of the Athletes Relief Fund. What we did was to look at the entire gamut of those that have qualified for the Olympics, but have not been adopted. 

“Next we also considered athletes that would have competed at the postponed National Sports Festival in Edo and those that have represented us in the past. Since their source of earnings had ceased due to the suspension of sporting activities, we felt this was the best way of assisting them. “It is an on going process as more athletes who met the set down criteria have been penciled down to benefit.”

Aduda explained that the fund was not Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s money, nor that of the Nigerian Olympics Committee (NOC), adding, “Rather, it is a private initiative based on the Ministry’s PPP model.

“Over 170 athletes were listed to benefit. It is an on going process until the N10m, which is domiciled in the Ministry’s CBN account, is exhausted. With payment being strictly electronic, the disbursement process is fully transparent such that every kobo is accounted for.”

He disclosed that the exercise would “span two to three weeks and every donation that comes goes to the account with the CBN.”