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Fire in the Glass House

By  Steve Alabi
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The football house is on fire, and anyone in the house may get burnt. News reports last week claimed that there has been monumental corruption in the Nigeria Football Federation. The figures being bandied are simply outrageous. The President, not Amaju Pinnick, is reportedly angry, at the NFF helmsman and his colleagues on the board of the federation. His pointsmen in the war on corruption, Okoi Obono-Obla of the Presidential Investigation Committee and Ibrahim Magu of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are bearing their fangs and heads may roll.

Before professional defenders of the absurd start threatening us with a FIFA ban, let them weigh the allegations against the financial diligence rules and the experience of the football governing body. A six-page exposé reportedly authored by the EFCC detailed financial payments from FIFA and CAF to the NFF between 2014 and 2018 and sponsorship deals which were questionably handled.

The report discovered that the NFF’s domiciliary accounts with Zenith Bank and UBA received a total inflow of $16,417,761 from FIFA and CAF between January 2014 and June 2016 alone. Sponsorship deals, according to documents reportedly supplied by the Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung amounted to N1.14 billion and $1.55 million. The EFCC was said to have carried out an investigation which revealed that the NFF had sponsorship deals with 21 corporate organizations with eleven of these making payments of N5.29 billion and $1.55 million. There was also an allegation that one of the companies appointed as financial consultant to the NFF is owned by the Second Vice President, Shehu Dikko.

Last Friday, security operatives attached to the Presidential Investigation Panel reportedly invaded the Glass House to effect the arrest of the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, his two Vice Presidents, Seyi Akinwumi and Shehu Dikko, the Secretary General, Mohammed Sanusi and the Chairman of the Technical Committee, Ahmed Fresh. The idea is to prosecute them on corruption charges.

The NFF has however refuted all these allegations. A statement issued by the federation said the report of these allegations is completely unfounded and countered that it published its audited accounts in two national dailies last month to demonstrate its integrity. The statement said, “Anyone interested in the federation’s financial transactions can refer to those pages. All incomes into the NFF from the Federal Government, FIFA, and CAF from 2014 till now have been correctly recorded and reflected in our accounts. The NFF received nothing like the N59 billion that the fake news reporters have been hawking. It is laughable. Before appointment into FIFA committees, Mr. Amaju and the two Nigerians in there passed rigorous integrity and eligibility tests. FIFA and CAF have not reported to anyone that their money is missing, and both organizations have been doing auditing of monies given to the NFF. Two years ago, FIFA handed the NFF a clean bill of health on financial management. Our accounts are audited by the same company that audits FIFA – Pricewaterhouse Coopers.” Does this certify the integrity of the NFF officials?

We must have recourse to similar scenarios in FIFA. The football governor itself has been involved in a number of criminal investigations and prosecutions. The Swiss Office of the Attorney General and the US Department of Justice have filed criminal charges against principal characters in the FIFA family with some convicted. In fact, on May 27, 2015, the Swiss authorities raided the FIFA headquarters and seized electronic data and documents. A total of 18 individuals and two corporations were indicted, including nine FIFA officials and five businessmen. FIFA heavyweights like its legendary former President, João Havelange, his successor, Sepp Blatter, Jérôme Valcke, Chuck Blazer and Jack Warner have all suffered arrest and criminal charges.

The fact that FIFA publishes its audited accounts did not and cannot prevent civil authorities from arresting and charging to court those suspected to have committed crimes in the conduct of the affairs of the federation. Anyone threatening fire and brimstone just because the civil authorities are investigating the NFF for corruption should stop wasting his time. Let events take their course. Football needs a clean bill of health. After all, investigation is not conviction. If the hands of the officials are clean, they have nothing to fear. But let no one threaten Nigeria with FIFA ban. It cannot fly.

Idowu Akinbulumo: A true amazon

The immediate past General Manager of the Ondo State Sports Council, Mrs. Idowu Akinbulumo is an uncommon sports manager. It is not surprising that encomiums keep coming her way since she retired from service. The first woman to head the Sports Council, Mrs. Akinbulumo took up the challenge with matronly tact and wisdom and discharged her huge responsibilities with admirable verve and competence. Her decade of leadership will go down in history as one of the finest for sports in the Sunshine State. I salute a dear friend and a true sports amazon, one who has paid her dues and richly deserves the honours that are coming to her

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