Governing Bodies
ALLEGED $9.5M FIFA GRANT FRAUD: NIGERIA COURT FIXES DEC 16 DATE
A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Mataima, Abuja Nigeria on Tuesday fixed Dec. 16 for the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to report on the harmonisation of the cases against some Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials in the alleged misappropriation of 9.5 million dollars FIFA grant.
Justice Peter Affen had earlier fixed Oct. 22 for ruling in the application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) , to join the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick and Secretary-General, Dr Mohammed Sanusi
The EFCC dragged three officials of Federation before the court in an alleged 9.5 million dollars FIFA grant misappropriation before applying on April 30 to join both Pinnick and Sanusi in the matter as co-defendants.
Those being tried earlier were Christopher Andekin, NFF Director of Administration and Finance; Reagan Zaka, Cashier and Fadanari Mamza, Head, Finance and Account Department.
The EFCC charged the defendants with five counts bordering on criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and misappropriation.
The EFCC alleged that they conspired between January 8 and 26, 2015 to commit the offence, contrary to Section 97 of Penal Code.
Andekin was alleged to have been entrusted with money meant for the development of football in Nigeria, a grant from world football body, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).
He was alleged to have fraudulently diverted 1.3 million dollars from the NFF domiciliary account with Zenith Bank, an act that is contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code.
Zaka, on his part, was said to have fraudulently diverted 7.2 million dollars rom the FIFA grant, while Mamza was alleged of diverting 2. 3 million dollars.
The defendants all pleaded not guilty to the charge
On June 27, while adopting processes filed in support of the application for joinder the prosecuting counsel, Mr Steve Odiase, urged the court to grant the application.
According to him, the charge filed by the government against the first, second defendants and both Pinnick and Sanusi at the Federal High Court in Abuja was different from the one at the FCT High Court.
On his part, counsel for the defendants, Festus Ukpe, while adopting affidavits opposing the joinder, urged the court to refuse the application.
At the resumed hearing, Mr Abubakar Musa, senior state counsel, Federation Ministry of Justice told the court that the Attorney General of the Federation want all the matters against the defendants pending in different courts to be harmonised .
Musa prayed the court that in the interest of justice and to avoid abuse of Court processes that time should be given to them to harmonise the cases.
EFCC counsel Mr Makinde Olufemi, told the court that they are left with no option than to go with the possible date given .
Justice Affen then adjourned until Dec. 16 for the AGF to report on the outcome of the harmonisation.
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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