The Gladiators Beyond The Arena —2: Another NFF Financial Case: The US$9.5 Million FIFA Grant

By Paul Lucky Okoku

This is a continuation of the 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 surrounding 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. It is separate from the financial case previously published.

In 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖, the 𝐄𝐅𝐂𝐂 arraigned three NFF officials before Justice 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧 of the FCT High Court, Abuja, over alleged criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and misappropriation involving FIFA development funds.

The officials were:

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧 — Director of Administration and Finance.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐙𝐚𝐤𝐚 — Cashier.

𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐳𝐚 — Head of Finance and Accounts.

The prosecution alleged that between 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟖–𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟓:

𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧 — 𝐔𝐒$𝟏.𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐙𝐚𝐤𝐚 — 𝐔𝐒$𝟕.𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐳𝐚 — 𝐔𝐒$𝟐.𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧

The defendants 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲.

In 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗, the EFCC sought to add then-NFF President 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐮 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 and Secretary-General 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐢 to the case.

On 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎, Justice Affen rejected that request because similar charges against Pinnick and Sanusi had already been discharged in another proceeding.

Those are the documented facts.

𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝.

So far, this Gladiators financial series has documented two separate financial cases.

𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐎𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐮

𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 | 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 | 𝐀𝐅𝐂𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝟐𝟎 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧