The National Sports Commission (NSC) chairman, Shehu Dikko, has dismissed allegations of misappropriation of a $1.2 million FIFA funds meant for the construction of a mini-stadium in Kebbi State.
Dikko noted that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) did not mishandle the funds, as FIFA directly managed the project.
“That is where people are getting it wrong; no one collected the money. I’m not here to defend the NFF; they can defend themselves,”Dikko said on Channels TV programme, Politics Today, anchored by Seun Okinbaloye on Friday.
“But as the leader of sports in Nigeria, what happens to the NFF affects the entire sports ecosystem. So we need to set the record straight for people to understand how this works.”
Dikko explained that FIFA appoints consultants, supervises contracts, and pays contractors directly, leaving the NFF with no access to the funds.
I was a manager of FIFA projects, and I know how FIFA works. Nobody collected the money because FIFA manages its projects directly,” he stated.
The project, approved in 2015, was worth about ₦300 million at the time, Dikko noted. He attributed delays in land acquisition and documentation to the project’s slow progress, with the foundation and contract signing pushed to 2020.
“This project is not $1.2 million of today. When it was approved in 2015, the value was about ₦300 million. That was what the project was worth at that time,” Dikko clarified.
The mini-stadium’s appearance and value have sparked public outrage, especially after FIFA featured it on its social media banner.
Persecondnews recalls that the House of Representatives Committee on Sports had launched an investigation into the NFF’s management of FIFA and CAF development grants, with the Kebbi project under scrutiny.
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