NSC Transfers Ahmadu Bello Stadium To Kaduna State Government

The National Sports Commission and the Kaduna State Government on Thursday 26th February signed a Memorandum of Understanding transferring ownership of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium Kaduna to Kaduna State Government.

NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko signed the document on behalf of the Commission while Executive Governor of Kaduna State His Excellency Senator Uba Sani signed for the State Government.

The agreement which was signed sequel to Presidential Approval, will see the iconic structure transformed from a 12,000 to 32,000 capacity.

In his opening address, Mallam Dikko highlighted the trailblazing achievements of the sector with the support
of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

His words, “Sports had never enjoyed the type of support it has now under the President. The result is that we recorded 373 medals across all sports in 2025 and over 140,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs created.

“Sports is no longer measured by the medals alone. We have the objective to contribute a minimum of 3% to the nation’s GDP annually. Last year, we did at least 1% in the last two quarters. At this rate we will even exceed our targeted 3%.

“Key to the sports economy is massive infrastructural upscaling and thus we came up with a strategy to partner both the private and public sector and the summations to ensure massive sports infrastructure in the county for both elite and grassroots sports. The first governor to key into Mr. President’s vision for sports infrastructure development across the country is His Excellency, the Governor of Kaduna State.

He came forward to align with the vision and agreed to take over and upscale Ahmadu Bello Stadium into a world-class sports facility. Before even the paperwork was completed, he had gone to site based on the presidential approval to demolish and redesign the ABS and massive work is going on there now day and night.

“Since then, many state governors have come to us to say they want to do what the Governor is doing in Kaduna. Your Excellency, you have shown that governance is not all about talk but action and final positive outcomes. The Governor is not just rebuilding the stadium, he is creating an economic city around it which aligns with our sports city vision where we have the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja as our pilot project.”

The NSC Chairman seized the opportunity to point out that the President had approved the establishment of the National Sports Infrastructure Development Board to raise adequate funding for the revamping and or provisions of world-class sports facilities across the country.

“The President is not joking about this infrastructure matter. He wants at least one world-class facility in each of the six geopolitical zones.

With Kaduna now sorted, we can zero down to other zones. We have our sights on Lagos, Bauchi and Ibadan Stadiums where we intend to work with the private sector in revamping the National Stadium Lagos and the State Governments in Ibadan and Bauchi.

Furthermore we are engaging with many State Governors like Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Sokoto etc to collaborate and or induce them to upscale their stadiums to world-class facilities in compliance with FIFA standards” he concluded.

In his response, the Kaduna State Governor, His Excellency Senator Sani began by eulogizing the NSC Chairman for repositioning Nigerian sports.

“In the past decades sporting activities appeared abandoned with no clear direction in this country. It gladdens our heart to know that it is a son of the soil of Kaduna State whom the President has used to change this narrative.

“We the entire indigenes of Kaduna are really proud of you for making us believe again in Nigerian sports. You have made our sports worthy of investment and we must commend Mr. President for this appointment”, he said.

He reiterated his administration’s plans for the Ahmadu Bello Stadium.

“Only two stadiums in this country, Lagos and Uyo meet FIFA’s standards in capacity. Abuja is 60,000 while Uyo is 30,000 but we are redeveloping ABS to a world-class facility and upgrading the capacity from 16,000 to 32,000 as well.

So the ABS will be next to Abuja in capacity. We want to attract top international sporting events to the state. This will help to boost economic activities in the state as well as sports tourism.

We are not just renovating the stadium, we completely demolished it to build a new state-of-the-art stadium with world-class facilities and we must thank and applaud President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his vision for sports and indeed Nigeria which we have clearly aligned to and support through this massive investment we are doing to revamp the ABS”, he added.

He already has a targeted date to commission the project.

“In the next eight months, all being equal, we will be in Kaduna to commission this facility. This is why we are working night and day at the site to meet the target”, he pointed out.

Senator Sani pledged his administration’s unalloyed support to the NSC towards actualizing the President’s mandate. He further applauded the President’s approval for the setting up of the Sports Infrastructure Development Board in Nigeria describing it as a game changer and another bold decision of Mr. President.

In his opinion, history will be very kind to the President as the final outcome would clearly see Nigeria taking its rightful place in the comity of sporting nations with world-class sports infrastructure across the county which will drive sports development and the economy by harnessing the potentials of the sports economy.

“You can count on us. You always had the drive and passion to reposition sports and I recalled even while I was in the Senate, you have always had this vision to make a difference to Nigerian sports and we have tried towards activating some of your plans.

I am happy you now have the opportunity, thanks to Mr. President’s trust in you, to do that. We will support you to actualize this vision for the good of Nigeria in line with the vision and objectives of Mr. President”, he concluded.