New Nigerian Newspapers Online Edition

The Nigerian Senate is to investigate the circumstances behind the embarrassing fiasco that saw the country initially withdraw from hosting next year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup and later do about turn when the budget was substantially slashed by over 400 per cent.

Consequently, some of the key characters in the saga have been invited by the Senate Committee on Sports to appear before it.

They include Abdulrahman Hassan Gimba, the outgoing Sports Minister, Amos Adamu, the Director General of the National Sports Commission and Mainasara Ilo, CEO of the LOC.

A statement issued by Jamo Suleiman, the Clerk of the Committee, said the invited parties are to appear before the committee at noon on Monday.

In addition to investigating the circumstances behind the withdrawal that wasn’t, the Committee also intends to assess the state of preparedness of the country to host.