18 September 2013, Abuja – Public power outage almost ruined the reopening party for the Abuja National Stadium on Tuesday night.
Organisers were left embarrassed after the friendly match between the Golden Eaglets and Amakson Academy was stopped for more than 15 minutes because of the power outage, which sparked fans’ protest as they started chanting against top government officials.
However, the standby generator at the 60,000-capacity stadium was put on for the match to be completed, MTNFottball.com reports.
The heavy downpour during the event did not help matters as the refurbished pitch was for long periods water logged with questions being asked about the drainage system around the field.
Overall, it was a disjointed reopening party with musical and sporting performances running into each other after it began far behind the scheduled 4pm kick-off.
Top sports ministry officials led by Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi along with Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials attended the event.
– The Nation
