There is an uneasy calm among Benue State football stakeholders, especially the teeming fans of the Lobi Stars Football Club over the prolonged renovation of the state-owned Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi. The sports facility is named after the first civilian governor of the state.
The delay in the completion of the renovation work on the stadium has rendered the state-owned Lobi Stars homeless, forcing it to play its home matches away from home.
Shortly before the start of the 2023 season, the Aper Aku Stadium was declared unfit to host NPFL matches. Since then, Lobi Stars relocated to the New Jos Township Stadium, from where they moved to the Lafia Township Stadium and have been playing their home matches there until recently when they adopted the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi as their new home ground for the remaining part of the current season.
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It was against this background that a few weeks before his exit from office in 2023, the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Samuel Ortom, awarded the contract for the resurfacing of the playing surface of the Aper Aku Stadium to Monimichelle, a sport facility construction company to the tune of over N243 million.
The former governor cited the worrying security risk involved in Lobi Stars often travelling to Jos for their home matches as one of the reasons for the award of the contract.
Upon the award of the contract, the construction company was given a deadline of two and half months. The ongoing renovation work on the stadium began in March 2023.
However, when the present administration of Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia was inaugurated on May 29, 2023, the renovation work came to a standstill as the contractor, Mr Ebi Egbe, alleged that top government officials and other indigenes of the state wanted the contract terminated and handed over to them.
the ongoing renovation work on the mainbowl of the aper aku stadium makurdi
After a back and forth with the Ministry of Sports, in January 2024, a meeting between ministry officials and Egbe was held and he was told that his contract would be terminated. But the contractor, who insisted that he had not breached the contract in any way, threatened legal action. However, Governor Alia waded into the crisis as he held a meeting with the aggrieved contractor to amicably resolve the matter.
In July 2024, the governor re-awarded the contract to Monimichelle and upgraded it from pitch resurfacing to complete upgrade of the stadium to include a new tartan track, upgrade of the dressing rooms, provision of FIFA-approved seats, floodlights and two electronic scoreboards. Consequently, the contract sum rose from the previous N243 million to over N1.7 billion.
Considering that the governor wanted Lobi Stars to return home before the start of the 2024/2025 NPFL season, the contractor also promised that the renovation work would be completed within the stipulated time of eight weeks and according to specifications.
However, nearly six months after the contract was re-awarded and a substantial amount of money paid to the contractor as claimed by the state government, the work is yet to be completed. Several visits by Governor Alia and the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, to the site have not changed the situation; instead the renovation work is moving at a snail pace.
Our correspondent reports that despite over N1.2 billion the government said it had released to the contractor, apart from the upgrade of the dressing rooms and toilets, as well as the main bowl that has been repainted, the track, scoreboards, playing turf and floodlights are yet to be provided. Ironically, each time the governor visited the stadium, he expressed satisfaction with the work done, even as Benue football fans are fast losing patience with the contractor.
When contacted, the contractor, Egbe, popularly called Monimichelle, blamed his inability to complete the work on sabotage by those who want to tarnish his “hard earned reputation.”
However, the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Creativity, Rt Hon Terkimbi Ikyange, told our correspondent that the case of the contractor is that of a bad workman complaining about his tools. He said Egbe had been given more than enough to execute the contract.
Saboteurs frustrating my efforts – Monimichelle
Despite his failure to meet the deadline given to him, Egbe has refused to take responsibility as he instead pointed accusing fingers at unnamed individuals, alleging that they were attempting to sabotage his work.
“There is no delay. What is happening is the handiwork of some people plotting to discredit me because I refused to share money instead of delivering a world-class facility.
“We have never rested; work is going on at the stadium, but there’s a lot of sabotage against the project. I am not deterred because I will deliver to Benue what would stand the test of time. We are working and they are stealing away items we put in place.
“Our armoured cables are stolen. I had light everywhere before but they stole it. They are carting away things we put on the ground there. Some people are just out to blackmail me. There is a lot of bad blood because I refused to share money. I don’t share project money because I want to deliver a job that can be approved by CAF,” Egbe said.
The contractor, who said he was awaiting the importation of some items like the pitch grass, noted that his project was still ongoing in tandem with contractual agreement and that work was progressing on site.
Monimichelle is being mischievous – Ikyange
But Ikyange expressed frustration over the stalled renovation as he stressed that the prolonged renovation work on the stadium was affecting sporting activities in the state.
“The contractor is in a better position to explain the delay. Each time I call him, he tells me the components have not arrived yet. He keeps giving deadlines; and when they pass, he gives new ones.
“I spoke with him again yesterday (Wednesday) and he still blamed the shipping company. He has now set February as a new timeline. The whole thing is resting on him. We expect at least the laying of the turf, the floodlight, tracks and dressing rooms to bring Lobi Stars back home,” he said.
Ikyange also said that over N1.2 billion has since been released to the contractor to enable him deliver, but he was busy giving flimsy excuses.
“The government paid him over N1.2 billion in August as mobilisation. The total contract sum is over N1.7 billion. In October, over N500 million was given to him when he complained of the dollar due to variation. Between August and now, it is almost five months; he promised to deliver in two months’ time, so what is he saying now? He is just a blackmailer.
“He is a professional person, so we gave him the support. We gave him additional payment to meet an impromptu exchange rate. But that is where we are now. He blames the shipment agency for the non-arrival of components.
“If indeed some government officials were asking him for kickbacks, did he report such a thing to me? Who are those government officials? What were the terms of his contract? Let him justify it.
On the allegation of cable theft, Ikyange responded angrily, saying, “These are all lies. He is being mischievous.”
We can’t wait for Lobi Stars’ return – Fans
Believing that the present relegation worries of their darling club are caused by lack of home advantage the Aper Aku Stadium once offered, most fans of Lobi Stars who spoke to our correspondent expressed eagerness to see the team back in Makurdi.
To this end, Mr Terver Akase, the spokesman of former Governor Samuel Ortom said: “I am glad that my principal, the immediate past governor of Benue State saw the need for the upgrade of facilities of Aper Aku Stadium and awarded the contract for its renovation.
“It is equally good that his successor, Governor Alia came and has continued with the work so that Lobi Stars can return to their base. We fans of the club in Makurdi have missed the team and we will be happy to have it back to play their home games here in the state capital.”
For Abraham Ochife, a sports journalist and fan of Lobi Stars, the decision to award the contract was a show of Governor Alia’s interest and commitment to sports and his determination to ensure that Lobi Stars return to Makurdi.
“It is unfortunate that the renovation is yet to be completed, about five months (20 weeks) after the return of the contractor to site, while we were told that it would be completed in eight weeks,” Ochife said.
Another Lobi Stars fan, Uche Nnorom said: “The renovation work at the Aper Aku Stadium was expected to be completed in October 2024, but sadly, that has not been the case. The slow pace of work by the contractor, Monimichelle Sports Facility, is quite disheartening.
“Most worrisome is the fact that the team has now moved its base to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi. Football enthusiasts like me want the government to ensure completion of work at the stadium so that the team can play its remaining games at home, and perhaps avoid the looming relegation.”
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