Anti-Corruption: Buhari’s Government Beams Its Searchlight On The NFF

President Muhamma­du Buhari administration’s anti-corruption war has gotten to the doorsteps of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), NAIJ.COM sports has learned.

Daily Sun sports, reported that, security agents have started looking into the elections that brought Amaju Pinnick into the office of the Nigeria Football Federation NFF, as the President of the National football governing body.

Mr Pinnick is the younger brother to the wife of the former governor of  Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan and also a  former Delta State Football Association FA Chairman, was controversially elected into the NFF office on September 30 last year in Warri, his hometown.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick

The elections, however, were widely reported to have caused a stir in the governing body as millions of Naira were exchanged in ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags by delegates involved in the elections.

NAIJ.COM Sports recalled that, the chosen delegate by the NFF Congress was Shehu Dikko who was stopped at the airport by security agents on his way to Warri to contest the elections. Some alleged Pinnick was responsible for the arrest. An electorate tribunal was formed after the elections, where Shehu Dikko contested Pinnick’s victory, and the tribunal also ended in yet, another controversy.

A source told Sun Sports, that the shady NFF elections were in the scope of the government and investigations have begun to determine how much money was spent before Amaju Pinnick emerged as president.

READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: Keshi’s Agent Keeps Mum On Next Move Of The Ex-Eagles Coach

The source said: “As we speak, security agents have started inves­tigating the NFF, especial­ly how the Amaju board emerged at the Warri elec­tion. They are aware a lot of money went into that elec­tion and are investigating how the election was fund­ed, how much went into it and all that. Recall that the election was simply a cash and carry affair where mon­ey exchanged hands in Gha­na-must-go bags.

“Beyond the Warri election, since coming into office, the NFF leadership had engaged in a lot of financial dealings that were not too tidy and the security operatives are dig­ging into all that. The feder­al Government is interested in sanitizing all sectors, in­cluding sports.”

The NFF recently signed a new sponsorship deal with American sportswear manu­facturing outfit, NIKE, but details of the deal have remained shady while the NFF has been lambasted for awarding a contract to furnish the Sunday Dankaro House built for the federa­tion by the now dissolved Presidential Task Force on football. Last week, the NFF board revoked the furnishing contract worth around N178m.

The governing body is yet to account for monies earned from the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

Countries that attended the mundial reportedly earned eight million dollars from FIFA while countries like Nigeria got addition­al one million dollars for reaching the second round.

READ ALSO: FIFA U-17 World Cup: NFF Sets Target For Golden Eaglets

The source said of all these: “The security agents are probing all these, I can con­firm to you.”

In a related development, the NFF is dealing with the issue of a lawsuit it was served by former Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi. Pinnick, has however laughed off the lawsuit that the former coach Stephen Keshi has served the organisation saying “we have a lot of things to bother ourselves about”.

The NFF boss also said the legal team of the NFF will be handling the lawsuit, adding that there were many programmes that could bring benefits to Nigerian football that the leadership of the NFF were more concerned about.

The post Anti-Corruption: Buhari’s Government Beams Its Searchlight On The NFF appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.