The Enugu State government and the federal government, Tuesday, signed the hosting agreement in respect of the 2026 National Sports Festival scheduled to be held in Enugu.
The agreement was signed by the Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Hon. Bukola Olopade, for the federal government, while Governor Peter Mbah signed for the state. The deal confers the Coal City state the hosting rights for the 2026 edition of the National Sports Festival.
Governor Mbah thanked the commission and other sports stakeholders for the confidence reposed in the state to stage the event.
He said, “I want to commend the commission for finding Enugu worthy of being the next host of the 23rd National Sports Festival. We are going to discharge ourselves creditably.
“As you know, we like to be a role model as a state that gained preeminence over 115 years ago. We will not want to let our forebears down. We will live up to that standard.
“We have already set forth at dawn. Immediately after that announcement was made, we mobilised our team. We are already working on revamping the Awgu Games Village and a whole lot. We have decided to deliver a brand new Games Village. We are also completely renovating the stadium to be brand new.
“We are making sure that by the time you come here by the end of this year, you are going to be highly impressed. It is not revamping, rebranding, or re-equipping, but we are also going to build additional facilities to the existing one. We are looking forward to having a world-class experience befitting the sportsmen and women, making our hosting a lifelong memory and experience.”
Earlier in his address, Hon. Olopade said the commission was encouraged by Enugu’s bid, available facilities, improved security in the state, and Governor Mbah’s determination to turn around the sports and social infrastructure to grant Enugu the right to host the event after the 22nd edition to be hosted by Ogun State.
The National Sports Commission boss added that the hosting would boost investments and tourism in the state before, during, and after the event.
