Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2004.
Audit panel nails Ogunjobi
•Shake-up in the football house, imminent
By Ben Alaiya
Group
Sports Editor
Shocking
revelations have emerged over the imminent purge that the Nigeria Football
Association (NFA), may witness in the coming days. The audit report of a panel instituted by the board is, allegedly, the instrument that
has unearthed monumental mismanagement of NFA resources since incumbent
Secretary General, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi took over.
Already, Sports
Minister, Musa Mohammed, a retired colonel has asked for the NFA board’s
position on the revelation that the NFA has no accounting system in place
neither has the body made a dime from international players transfer since the
incumbent Scribe took over.
“We were shocked to discover that money comes in and goes out without proper accounting. The
board has never been told how much is made and how it is spent, so we have to
wake up to the reality that the restructuring carried out by Mr Patrick Okpomo
has not worked. We have therefore decided
to do something fast”, declared Dr Sam Sam Jaja, a member of the
probe panel.
Jaja said he has
asked the NFA Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima not to shield anyone indicted
by the report as it presents an opportunity to reshape the running of football
in the country, adding that the panel was also firm in its recommendation that
the 115 staff strength of the NFA was bloated, because the body requires only
50 members of staff to function effectively.
The panel also said
during its staff audit, it discovered that the Chief Executive of the
association has no file that would have served as guide to the panel on his
antecedents and wondered why such a flaw should exist at the NFA.
The NFA board
member said the board has the right to pass a vote of no confidence on any key
member found to have run the association fraudulently, noting that the report
presents a rare glimpse of the manner of men that have been entrusted with the
administration of Nigerian football.
A committee of the
board is expected to be constituted soon to look into the Yabilsu panel
report. Chief Ogunjobi has allegedly declared the report a northern agenda to frustrate him out
of the NFA.
