Sports minister Solomon Dalung has ordered an audit of the accounts of the Nigeria Football Federation after FIFA suspended further grants to the body until the NFF properly accounts for the $1.1m it (FIFA) had given the NFF.
“I received a report from the NFF intimating me of FIFA’s audit report, which queried the management of $1.1m FIFA’s development grant to the NFF,” AfricanFootball.com quoted the minister as saying on Sunday.
“According to the report, FIFA has withheld all development funds to the Nigeria due to a lack of proper documentation of $802,000 out of the funds released to the NFF.
“This is a very serious issue that must be given an urgent attention to avoid another international embarrassment.
“To this end, the NFF is directed to immediately provide my office with detail information of receipt, disbursement and application of the FIFA development grant accordingly.
“In addition, a reputable audit firm should be appointed urgently to check the account books of the federation to ensure that funds are judiciously expended.
“The audit report must be made public so as to promote transparency, build credibility and enhance your market value.”
Dalung also demanded the minutes of an NFF executive committee meeting which endorsed the candidature of Amaju Pinnick for a CAF seat.
However, the NFF fired back by saying the “minister was misinformed about the activities of the board”.
“The General Assembly passed a Vote of Confidence in the NFF Executive Committee, and also endorsed the candidature of NFF President, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick for election into the CAF Executive Committee at the CAF Congress in Addis Ababa in March 2017,” the NFF said in a communiqué at the end of its meeting in Lagos on Sunday.
“Congress called on all Nigerians to give him total support as it is not an NFF venture, but a Nigerian Project.”
The communiqué added, “Congress noted the submission of the executive committee that at no time previously (official or unofficially) did the minister raise these issues with the NFF leadership to obtain clarification, which the federation would have gladly provided, just as it did to the House Committee on Sports during a recent sitting on its budget performance and budget proposal. Indeed, the audited account of the federation for the year, as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, an internationally reputable audit firm, was presented and adopted at the General Assembly.”
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