AS the wind of discontent blows from North to South, it’s easy to conclude that Nigerian football has seen better days. From the national teams to the various leagues, the state of affairs fails to inspire confidence in fans and stakeholders. Allegations of corruption, lack of transparency and accountability have dogged Nigeria’s football industry – particularly in recent years. And it is prevalent in various government parastatals and football management across the country. Since the beginning of Amaju Pinnick era in 2014, financial discrepancies, misappropriation and series of anomalies have been the order of the day in the operations of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF so much so that stakeholders and even members of the football body have written several petitions to FIFA. But these actions have failed to change much in the system. KOLAPO OLAPOJU takes a deep dive into the reckless use of funds and wanton disregard for due process that have tainted the NFF.

Misuse of FIFA Development Funds

In 2015, FIFA released a $2.5m grant to Nigeria as part of its FIFA Assistance Programme. The money was to be dedicated to football development programmes in the country.

The use of the grant, which was disbursed in five tranches between May and October 2015, raised eyebrows at FIFA. The football governing body expressed concerns over a lack of transparency, noting that the NFF leadership was unable to prove that the funds were not fraudulently expended.

FIFA also bemoaned the fact that the funds were not used for the approved programmes.

Consequently, PwC carried out a review and presented its findings to FIFA in October 2016.

In its findings, PwC said it “detected circumstances which may indicate or lead to a misuse of funds” and also noted that in several cases, the use of FIFA development funds could not be traced to supporting documentation or failed to align with FIFA prescribed purposes.

“We detected a misuse of funds or other non-compliance with FIFA regulations. These findings require immediate action,” the report added.

According to the report, the NFF made disbursements in cash, and as such, it could not be determined if the final recipient actually received the funds. Furthermore, the report noted that “nine cases totalling $801, 929 were identified where there was no supporting documentation to substantiate the subsequent disbursements”.

In conclusion, PwC stated that as a result of the lack of transparency, the FIFA development funds may have been misused or misappropriated. It also noted that the NFF management was unable to demonstrate that there was no fraudulent use of the funds.

BDC over CBN

Days later, the NFF issued an official response to the report through a letter addressed to the FIFA secretary-general by Sanusi Mohammed, NFF general secretary.

In a bid to defend the cash withdrawals, Sanusi wrongly informed FIFA that because Nigerian banks transactions are not denominated in dollars, the NFF had no choice but to “make cash withdrawals and exchange to naira to make payments”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-how-the-pinnick-era-of-funds-misappropriation-zero-transparency-poor-accountability-is-killing-football-in-nigeria/

hmmm

normal naija way

Our football don suffer