Misappropriation of Funds: Pinnick in Fresh, Big Trouble

Virement: Pinnick In Big, Fresh Trouble

By Admin

Former NFF president Sani Lulu Abdullahi and a few board members, fell victim to allegations of misapplication of funds after the 2010 world cup in South Africa and spent seven good years battling with anti graft agencie, before they were finally cleared of all charges earlier this year.

It all started during the 2010 world cup, when the sum of 900m naira allegedly meant for the Super Eagles participation at the event, was instead used to secure another accomodation for the team following a public outcry over the choice of a 3-star Hampshire hotel supposedly approved for the team near Durban.

The then Nigeria sports minister Ibrahim Bio, while presenting government’s position on the matter, said the federal government was aware of the uproar that greeted the choice of that hotel and has asked the NFF to get the players a better accomodation immediately.

“I am concerned about the noise [and] I am very unsure of the security of this place,” “You would agree that it’s important that our boys are secured Bio said.”

In a swift reaction, the NFF immediately secured a better hotel, beffitting of the status of the Nigerian National team.

That was where their problem started. The EFCC was later invited into the matter as the then minister, allegedly accused the board of misappropriation and misapplication of funds, which led to 8 years of countless visits to the EFCC and the federal high court for an offence they claimed ignorance of from day one until they were eventually set free earlier this year.

Eight years after his predecessors, Pinnick is facing almost a similar fate as a document circulated on the NSM WhatsApp platform on Thursday, showed that in retiring the now controversial 1.6billion naira 2018 World cup funds, the NFF stated clearly that, part of the monies was spent on accommodation, transportation and other logistics at the championship.

Unknowingly to Pinnick and his cohorts in the glasshouse, the federal government is well aware that FIFA gives participating Nations 1.5m US dollars for preparation and participation at the event.

FIFA also takes care of accomodation, transportation and feeding of all 32 National teams involved with the world cup, while CAF supported the five African qualifiers with a sum of 500,000 USD.

A presidency source who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NSM that government is silently monitoring events as they unfold. He said the federal government is in support of any moves aimed at fighting corruption and will listen to the Sports minister if he is ready to prosecute the NFF over allegations of misappropriation and misapplication of government funds.

“Government has received series of petitions on the Nigeria football federation, we are also aware of the touch of bragado with which they have gone about their businesses, with little or no respect for the Nigeria sports minister.

They may have had their way in the past but will not be lucky in the coming days as government does not take lightly issues of Virement. This is a very serious offence and they may not escape it he said.

When NSM probed further, trying to know the meaning of the word Virement, the officer simply said, Virement is a criminal offence under federal civil service rules.

If a public officer is given 1.6billion naira for an event as big as the world cup, common sense demands, that he retires the entire money appropriated back to the ministry, stating in clear terms, the amount recieved, the amount spent and the amount returned.

In their case, it was reported that part of the money was used for transportation and accommodation of other officials which totally contradicts the purpose of the release. Apart from this, we were made to understand that some of these monies were also used to prosecute the under 20 men’s nations cup qualifier, the Under 20 Women’s world cup and the Super Falcons nations cup campaign in Ghana.

That is a clear case of Virement. Under federal civil service rule, it is expected that they make a fresh application if these monies were to be used for other purposes.

"There must be another memo, requesting for approval else it is assumed that the monies were never retired even as the NFF continue to brandish documents showing they have successfully retired the funds." The source said.

The minister must have discovered these loopholes in their weak defense and is patiently waiting to nail them he said.

NSM is aware of the NFF strong point, which is a purported document in which they allegedly claimed to have bribed the minister to the tune of over 200,000 US dollars.

This reporter quickly chipped that in, trying to make the respondent understamd that the NFF obviously have their own weapon of mass destruction but the Villa source simply waved that too aside with a loud sigh saying “Wale if these people are your friends, you better warn them before they use their own hands to destroy themselves.

Already they are faced with two count charges of misappropriation and misapplication which in itself are criminally incriminating.

Now i am hearing that there is also an alleged case of bribery? That is the straw that will completely break the camels back. Whether you like it or not, Dalung even with his obvious inadequacies is still a minister of the federal republic.

With barely two months left to the presidential elections, Buhari will need all the support of his serving ministers and Dalung, fortunately or unfortunately, is one of them.

The federal government will protect their own in matters of public concerm like this one. They may scold him inside but definitely not in the public because they know the opposition is looking for every available weapon to fight back.

So Pinnick and his team are going about with videos of monies they gave a serving minister? Are you aware that in law the giver and the receiver are liable he asked rather rhetorically?

There are three questions i will like to ask.

Where did Pinnick and his board get the 200,000 dollars they used in bribing a serving minister? Is it their personal money or government’s money?
Why the bribe? How many persons have they bribed after Dalung?
Attempting to bribe or resorting to bribing is an indication that they have something to hide.
They should know, Dalung has got nothing to lose. If he does so well in helping Buhari return after the presidential election, he will get favours in the next dispensation.

Pinnick is the one who wants to protect a name and integrity in CAF and FIFA, yet he goes about saying he has a video tape where himself and some of his loyalists in the board bribed a serving sports minister.

As i told you earlier, if you are close to them, advise them to go and make amends, else this one will consume them.

Dalung is not a foolish man, he has retained his best cards for the last, he has suffered so much insults from these NFF board and he will give this last fight his best effort. A stitch in time could save them nine stitches” he concluded.