President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the postponement of the 2020 National Sports Festival.

The festival which was to be held from Sunday, March 22 to Wednesday, April 1 in Edo State has now been postponed. 

The postponement was ordered by Buhari after he was briefed of the danger of the festival happening amidst the outbreak of coronavirus by the sports minister Sunday Dare and his health counterpart Osagie Ehanire. 

“President Mohammadu Buhari approves the postponement of the National Sports Festival Edo 2020 as a precautionary move against COVID-19 spread,” Dare said on Twitter. 

“Following the briefing of Mr. President from myself and the Minister of State for Health on COVID 19, Mr. President approved the immediate postponement of Edo Sports festival to a future date.” 

The briefing came after a third case of the virus was confirmed in Nigeria by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday, March 17. 

Several persons also raised concerns about athletes coming in from the virus-hit European countries for the festival.

The National Sports Festival is a biennial multi-sport event organized by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Sports Commission for athletes from the 36 States of Nigeria.

There was a six-year absence before it returned to Abuja in 2018.