Recent invitation of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to the leadership of the “illegal” Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, to report at its headquarters with their passports is nothing new and should not elicit any interest.
Followers of the NFF and the anti graft agencies stories are rather suspicious that the history of the past, where the anti graft agencies, ICPC and EFCC, and some government officials ‘blocked’ the prosecution of criminal cases against some NFF officials is about to repeat itself. Painful to say, their roles in in the past had been nothing but smartly helping to stop the prosecution of series of allegations against the NFF officials and their arrogant refusal to render accounts for the huge revenue from both the government and other sources.
The Guinness Book of Records can even attest to the fact that no parastatal has been investigated by anti-graft agencies than the NFF over issues bothering on allegations of large scale malfeasance, corruption and stealing, which further confirms what the former Senate President, David Mark said in 2011 that the NFF is the most corrupt parastatal in the world.
Why did the ICPC invite the “illegal” NFF that receives money from government under NFA, which is recognised and authorised by NFA ACT, and squanders under NFF.?
My source revealed that it had to do with allegations of how much that was said to had been released to the National Sports Commission for the World Cup qualifiers, without recourse to the NFF.
Unfortunately, nobody knows exactly how much,but it is said to be huge amount, even as the Super Eagles World Cup dream has seemingly evaporated like the morning dew. Yet, no anti-graft agency will call the parties involved to explain how the money was spent given the serial poor results recorded by the team.
But is the NFF a legal Body, you want to ask.? The Supreme Court has ,in many cases , affirmed that the NFF IS UNKNOWN TO LAWS OF NIGERIA AND NOT ENTITLED TO GOVERNMENT SUBVENTION. SO WHO IS SHIELDING THIS ‘ILLEGAL’ NFF ?
As a lawyer, one is worried there is clear illegal connection between these bodies. As I write , there are no less than five criminal cases, including the Special Presidential Investigation Panel, SPIP report, filed by ICPC against NFF , Amaju PINNICK, Shehu Dikko and others relating to huge allegations of financial misappropriation of budgeted funds for football administration.
These criminal matters were adjourned at the instance of Federal Ministry of Justice when Abubakar Malami was the Attorney General of the Federation on the grounds that the Ministry wanted to consolidate the numerous criminal cases in court into two cases.
Regrettably, five years after this abuse of court process, the criminal cases are yet to see the light of the day and our football is suffering due to unending illegal diversion of huge public funds by those administering our national game.
Till date, the NFF is the only (otherwise court pronounced illegal parastatal) in Nigeria that receives and diverts budgeted funds . Unfortunately, this is not an issue in the eyes of the ICPC and EFCC officers, as the NFF is a sacred cow, despite the Supreme Court ruling which affirmed Justice Donatus Okorowo’s judgment that only the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, has the constitutional rights to run football in Nigeria.
While delivering a landmark judgment in 2010, Justice Donatus Okorowo in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/170/2010 stated “…the Nigeria Football Association was established under Section 1 of the Nigeria Football Association Act as a body corporate with perpetual succession and common seal with power to sue and be sued.
“By these provisions, it is the only body recognized by Nigerian Law to manage football . The Law did not make reference to it as Nigeria Football Federation. The name under which it is charged to manage football under the Law is Nigeria Football Association.
“It has no power to address itself as Nigeria Football Federation.”
The judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court in several judgments, thus rendering all the activities of the NFF since 2010 null and void.
Why are the anti-graft agencies still treating with kid gloves, and even romancing and protecting an ‘illegal’ body like the NFF and individuals accused in the cases in Court ? In the heat of this allegation and investigations, the ICPC and EFCC sealed Amaju Pinnick, Shehu Dikko and Mohammed Sanusi’s houses in both Lagos, Abuja and the United Kingdom but what happened next nobody knows, even as the investigation is still in the cooler.
As a reminder, among the criminal cases against the NFF which Malami as former Attorney General allegedly stalled include: allegations of embezzlement of FIFA’s $8.6m 2014 World Cup grant, $10m from 2018 World Cup grant among other streams of FIFA and CAF developmental funds, as well as sponsorship money from corporate bodies between 2014 and 2022.
Investigations confirmed that some of the funds were warehoused in private financial companies where some of the accused NFF officials were said to have vested interests.
Another case which awaits refiling in court is the untraceable NIKE contract sponsorship, which the FOOTBALL BODY could not disclose the value of the contract and the contents of the deal.
As I round up, it is apt to conclude that Nigeria’s football is still light years away from liberation given the people holding it by the jugular.
By Barrister Uche Onochie, Abuja
