NFF Corruption: ‘Pinnick, Dikko, Others Should Resign Now’
By Our Correspondent
The embattled president of Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick and his 2nd Vice President, Shehu Dikko have been advised to resign from their positions, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can authoritatively report.
The advice was handed by the Chairman, Bimo Sporting Club, Chinedu Okoye who said that in view of the monumental corruption perpetrated by the duo as well as other officials in the federation is such that if they have any form of moral rectitude, they should throw in the towel and leave Nigeria football.
Chief Chinedu who lamented the obvious decay in Nigeria football for the past five years Pinnick has been in power despite huge sums of money at their disposal to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria football for better, said that the NFF officials fingered in the fraud in the federation should be ready to go to jail.
He added that with the second term of President Mohammadu Buhari, it will no longer been business as usual stating that they will not go free.
“The best thing for Pinnick and his gang in NFF is for them to resign now and leave Nigeria football alone. They don’t have any vision to develop our football. These guys have destroyed our football, they have looted Nigeria football to zero.
“Are these people not ashamed of themselves? They should resign and go and bring back our money because they will never go free.
“You cannot fool all the people all the time. Football is the only thing that have united this country. Football is the only language that all Nigerians speak together – Hausa, Igbo Yoruba – every culture in Nigeria. We speak one language when it comes to football. When it comes to football, we don’t have Boko Haram, we don’t have IPOB, we don’t have Ayes as we saw in Lagos, we don’t have Niger Delta Militants. We just have one love when it comes to football.
“They should go to the court and answer their cases. If I die today, I think I have achieved something because Nigerians now know that after the elections in Katsina which Pinnick bought with money, that there was no election. I said it before and I am saying it again, the whole FA chairmen, all of them will go because all of them are corrupt.
“They are the problems of Nigeria football because if the whole state FAs chairmen are sincere enough, nothing stops them from coming together and impeach these criminals. But they are doing nothing, they are there for their own selfish interest.
“The development of football in Nigeria should be done at the grassroots and the state FA should start it but they are not there to do it and they don’t want to send the criminals out. In which sane country will Pinnick still be the president of the federation with all these allegations upon his head? These are not allegations, they are facts. FIFA brought money, the money was diverted; there was money stolen from the federation’s account.
“Pinnick and co have failed the nation, they are not supposed to be there, they should be ready to go to Kuje. They will go to Kuje. If they do not go to Kuje, then the President of Nigeria has failed Nigerians. But I am 100 per cent sure that this administration of President Mohammadu Buhari will never allow these guys to go free. He will uproot these criminals in our football. It will no longer be business as usual,” Chief Chined Okoye said.
It could be recalled that Amaju Pinnick, Shehu Dikko and other top officials of the federation have their properties no few than 12 seized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC following fresh investigations into financial recklessness in the federation.
The duo including the 1st Vice President, Seyi Akinwunmi, the Secretary-General, Sanusi Mohammed and a Board member, Yusuf Fresh will all appear on 26th of September before an Abuja High Court, Maitama to defend themselves over corruption cases involving embezzlement billions of naira FIFA grants meant for football development in Nigeria.
The Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) brought the charges against Pinnick, NFF vice presidents Seyi Akinwunmi and Shehu Dikko, general secretary Sanusi Mohammed and committee member Ahmed Yusuf.
The charges range from failure to declare their assets to conflict of interest and alleged embezzlement of $8.4 million paid by world football governing body FIFA to Nigeria for participation in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The five defendants were also accused of intentionally and dishonestly moving the sum of about N4 billion without the consent of the NFF.
