Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu affirms that the state stands ready to host this year’s CAF Awards following a thorough inspection by the Confederation of African Football.
Officials confirmed that the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, popularly known as the National Theatre, is fully prepared to stage the ceremony.
Two months ago at the Africa Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, President Bola Tinubu approved Nigeria’s bid to host two major CAF events after CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe made the request. Nigeria will stage both the organisation’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly and the annual CAF Awards ceremony.
A CAF inspection team toured the National Theatre on Monday. The group included former NFF presidential aspirant and CAF’s Head of Safety and Security, Dr Christian Emeruwa, along with Mohammed Bakeer (Technology), Inas Ahmed (Travel and Accommodation), Salah Mostafa (Transport) and Hervé Dassoundo (Branding).
A five-man NFF delegation accompanied them: Dr Ademola Olajire (Director of Media and Communications), Alizor Chuks (Director of Marketing), Barnabas Joro (Head of Security), Emmanuel Ayanbunmi (Chief Protocol Officer) and Tasiu Riskuwa Shehu (Head of ICT).
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Officials of the Lagos State Sports Commission, led by Director-General Lekan Fatodu, received the visitors and guided them through the venue. Governor Sanwo-Olu stressed the state’s commitment to delivering a successful event.
“We guided them through the venue and gathered their feedback. Hosting an event of this scale means every single detail counts and our team is working hard behind the scenes to make sure we get it right,” he posted on X. “Lagos is ready and we look forward to putting on a brilliant show for African football.”
Nigeria has previously hosted the CAF Awards on multiple occasions, with Lagos staging editions in 2008, 2013/2014 and 2015. Other countries that have welcomed the ceremony include Ghana (2017), Senegal (2018), Egypt (2019) and Morocco, which hosted consecutive editions from 2022 through 2025. No ceremonies took place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
