The House of Representatives has decided to establish a Special Committee to probe the management of financial grants totaling $25 million given to the Nigerian Football Federation and the Confederation of African Football.
The decision followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance during Tuesday’s plenary, co-sponsored by Lagos lawmaker Adedayo Adesola and Rivers State representative Felix Nwaeke.
Titled “Motion to sport further misuse of FIFA and CAF grants by Nigerian Football Federation,” Adesola highlighted that the mismanagement of funds from global football bodies has contributed significantly to the poor performances of Nigeria’s national teams in recent years.
“Only recently, former Super Eagles captain, Sunday Oliseh, accused the NFF of stifling the growth of football in Nigeria, through the misappropriation of grants from FIFA and CAF, citing the questionable handling of $1m the NFF got from FIFA to prepare the Super Eagles for the 2002 World Cup,” the lawmaker noted.
Between 2015 and 2025, the NFF allegedly received over $25 million in development funds from FIFA and CAF, yet little evidence exists to show that the money was properly invested.
On the motion, Adesola recalled that in December 2016, “FIFA sent an audit query over the mishandling of $1.1m development grant to NFF and reported that US$802,000 lacked proper documentation, prompting Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, to order an independent audit and asked NFF to account for receipts and disbursements.”
He added, “The House notes that between 2018 and 2019, NFF officials (including the then President, Amaju Pinnick) faced public criticism and were subject to EFCC and ICPC probes and court actions tied to alleged mismanagement of various funds and sponsorship.
“One of these monies, a $1.2m, is the subject of a news item currently trending on social media, which NFF allegedly used to construct Birnin Kebbi Stadium.
“We are concerned that a physical inspection of the stadium in Birnin Kebbi showed that it is a substandard facility in terms of quality and quantity, which cannot justify the sum of $1.2m claimed to have been spent on the project by the NFF.”
Adesola further observed that “The Kenyan Football Federation used the same amount of grant to develop a standard and well-equipped facility, to further raise eyebrows on the profligacy in NFF.”
He stressed that with another African Cup of Nations campaign and World Cup play-offs approaching, “There is a need to take decisive action on further misuse of public funds by the leadership of NFF.”
The motion received unanimous support during the plenary, presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Consequently, the House resolved to set up a special investigative committee to review NFF finances from 2015 to the present.
The leadership of NFF has also been summoned to present documentation detailing receipts and expenditures of the grants before the committee.
