A review of Nigeria’s 2026 federal budget has shown that the National Sports Commission (NSC) allocated N2.1 billion to “promote and organise the National Sports Festival 2025 in Ogun State,” despite the event having already taken place.
The 2025 National Sports Festival was held in Ogun State from May 16 to May 30, 2025, and was officially declared open by Vice President Kashim Shettima. Ogun State is also not scheduled to host another edition of the festival in 2026.
The inclusion of the event in the 2026 budget has raised questions, particularly as the Federal Ministry of Sports Development, now the NSC, had earlier budgeted N3 billion in the 2025 fiscal year for the promotion and organisation of the same festival in Ogun State.
In addition to federal allocations, Ogun State committed substantial resources to hosting the event. Budget documents show that the state spent N2.6 billion on the festival in the 2024 financial year and approved another N2.3 billion in its 2025 budget for the same purpose. Performance records further indicate that Ogun State spent N36.5 million on overheads and N2.652 billion on capital expenditure related to the festival in 2024.
For the 2025 financial year, the Ogun State government budgeted N285 million for personnel costs and N1.261 billion for capital expenditure connected to the festival.
Meanwhile, Enugu State has been designated as the host of the 2026 National Sports Festival. As far back as 2025, the Federal Ministry of Sports Development budgeted N185 million to begin preparations for the Enugu edition, with an additional N129.5 million allocated in the 2026 budget for further preparations.
Reacting to the development, the Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun on Media and Strategy, Kayode Ogunmade, said the state has no plans to host another National Sports Festival in 2026.
“We cannot host such a huge event twice in a year,” Ogunmade said, adding that Ogun State did not incur debts from hosting the 2025 festival.
When informed of the N2.1 billion allocation by the NSC for organising the festival in Ogun State in 2026, Ogunmade said only the commission could explain the rationale behind the expenditure. He suggested that the commission might be planning other sporting events in the state but maintained that he was unaware of any plan to host another National Sports Festival.
The reason the NSC included funding for an already concluded event in the 2026 fiscal year remains unclear.
