The House of Representatives has set up a committee to probe the financial records of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) from 2015 to date, following the alleged misappropriation of financial grants to the tune of $25 million from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
At the plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Mr Tajudeen Abbas, on Tuesday, October 27,2005, two lawmakers, Mr.Adebayo Adesola and Mr. Felix Nwaeke, moved a motiontitled, “Motion to sport further misuse of FIFA and CAF grants by Nigeria Football Federation”
The motion sought to examine the NFF governing body’s financial records regarding the support funds it received from FIFA and CAF, amid allegations that the funds may have been misused. This concern was raised after a photo surfaced showing a newly constructed stadium, reportedly costing over $1 million.
Speaking on his co-sponsored motion, Mr Adesola stated that, “In December 2016, FIFA sent an audit query over the mishandling of $1.1 million development grant to NFF and reported that $802,000 lacked proper documentation, prompting then Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, to order an independent audit and asked NFF to account for receipts and disbursements.”
“Between 2018 and 2019, NFF officials (including the then President, AmajuPinnick) faced public criticism and were subject to EFCC and ICPC probes and court actions tied to alleged mismanagement of various funds and sponsorship.
“One of these monies, a $1.2 million, is the subject of a news item currently trending on social media, which NFF allegedly used to construct a mini-stadium in Birnin Kebbi.”
The legislator further said “We are concerned that a physical inspection of the stadium in Birnin Kebbi showed that it is a substandard facility in terms of quality and quantity, which cannot justify the sum of $1.2 million claimed to have been spent on the project by the NFF,” declaring that, “There is a need to take decisive action on further misuse of public funds by the leadership of NFF.”
After the debate, the motion was unanimously adopted and the leadership of NFF was asked to appear before the special committee to answer questions regarding the grants.
