Nigerian football officials charged with $9.5m fraud

Abuja Three Nigerian football officials have been charged with fraud after allegedly diverting $9.5 million in FIFA grants for personal use, the country's anti-corruption unit said Thursday.
Christopher Andekin, Jafaru Fadanari Mamza, and Rajan Zaka allegedly committed the crime in 2015, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.
"The money was a grant given by the Federation of International Football Association, FIFA, for the development of football in Nigeria," it added.
EFCC lawyer Steve Odiase told reporters outside the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja that the case had been adjourned to a further hearing on November 28.
The body's spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, told AFP separately that the defendants pleaded not guilty, and were given bail on condition they surrendered their passports and paid a five-million-naira ($13,755, 12,000-euro) surety.
Andekin is the director of administration and finance at the NFF while Mamza heads the finance and accounts department. Zaka is a cashier.
The court case is the latest to hit the embattled NFF, which has been embroiled in a leadership struggle for control that has brought Nigeria to the brink of FIFA sanctions.
Football's governing body and its equivalent in Africa, CAF, have called for calm and reforms to heal the rifts in the running of the sport in Nigeria.

EFCC targets another ex-governor in graft probe

LAGOS Nigeria's anti graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission declared an ex-state governor wanted on Friday over corruption allegations involving hundreds of millions of dollars, the fourth ex-governor caught up in graft investigations this week. "The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former governor of Gombe state, Danjuma Goje, wanted over allegations of mismanagement and diversion of over 52 billion Naira (324 million dollars, 240 million euros) (in) state funds," it said. Goje was governor of the northeastern state from 2003 to 2011 and elected as a senator in April elections. The EFCC said Goje had failed to come forward for interrogation over the alleged fraud. The agency on Thursday detained three former state governors who left office after April elections as part of corruption investigations: Gbenga Daniel, Adebayo Alao-Akala and Aliyu Akwe Doma respectively of Ogun, Oyo and Nassarawa states. The three are among more than a dozen former governors that the EFCC is investigating for corruption, a source in the agency said. Nigeria's 36 state governors are given immunity from prosecution while in office. Public office holders in Nigeria -- and particularly state governors -- have often been accused of stealing funds, sometimes running into hundreds of millions of dollars. The country, Africa's most populous nation and its largest oil producer, is regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt. Former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, who died in 1998, was alleged to have siphoned off up to $2.2 billion from the country's central bank.

Dimeji Bankole pleads not guilty

The ex- Speaker of the House of Representative, Dimeji Bankole has appeared in court on fraud charges. Bankole pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of fraud.
The ex House of Representatives Speaker Dimeji Bankole filed the plea during a court appearance in Abuja.
Mr Bankole was arrested on charges of misappropriating millions of dollars of government funds.

Nigeria’s anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said it arrested Mr Bankole after it had received information that he had planned to flee the country.
His spokesman has denied that he planned to leave Nigeria.
It is alleged that Mr Bankole secured a 10bn naira ($65m; £40m) loan, which was then shared out among senior figures in parliament.
The first charges relate to the purchase of 800 computers, 400 widescreen TVs, three Mercedes cars, two Range Rovers and a selection of office equipment.
Bankole has acknowledged that the loan exists but says he did not gain personally. Prosecutors say they are planning to bring more charges next week.
Justice Okorowo adjourned the case to July 26 and 27 for trial.

No hiding place for FIFA's Amos Adamu: EFCC

LAGOS- THERE may be no hiding place for disgraced former Director General, National Sports Commission (NSC) and suspended FIFA Executive Committee member, Amos Adamu, as indications have emerged that Nigeria’s anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is set to spread its drag net to various parts of the world in its bid to track him down.
Adamu has been banned for three years from all football related activities and fined 10,000 Swiss francs by the ethics committee of FIFA for complicity in a cash-for-votes scandal blown open by Sunday Times of London and for breaching various articles of FIFA Code of Ethics.
Although, the EFCC had said shortly after the news of Adamu’s suspension came on Thursday that he would be interrogated as soon as he returns to Nigeria, it was learnt yesterday the anti-graft agency was looking for a quick avenue to track Adamu as soon as possible.
The Spokesman of EFCC, Femi Babafemi had told Brilafm sports radio that Adamu had refused to return to Nigeria since the commission showed interest in investigating the scandal.
“The chairman of the commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has instructed our operatives in charge of the matter to liaise with FIFA and see how we can get evidence of the whole investigation against Amos Adamu. This is a case that we have been working on since, and the decision by FIFA solidifies our position. Adamu has refused to come to Nigeria since we showed interest in the matter,” Babafemi said.
Meanwhile, FIFA President, Sepp Blatter promised yesterday that a “new FIFA” would choose the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, but admitted that changes would be needed to avoid corruption scandals.
Blatter sought to turn the page on the damaging World Cup bidding and corruption allegations after an executive committee meeting in Zurich, although he admitted that some collusion among FIFA’s decision makers was inevitable.
Nonetheless, FIFA’s president stressed that they were taking on greater responsibility now that world football’s showcase event was gaining more than sporting stature.
“Having this importance also in the economy, then we have a political dimension,” Blatter told journalists. “Now we have to have a look at how to act in the future to avoid such situations, definitely this is an item which is now under scrutiny,” he added, a day after FIFA’s ethics committee banned two executive committee members for one to three years over bribery or misconduct.