The House of Representatives has moved to investigate how the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) allegedly spent over $25 million in development grants received from FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 2015 and 2025.
The decision followed a motion of urgent public importance raised during Tuesday’s plenary, October 28, by Adedayo Adesola from Lagos and Felix Nwaeke from Rivers State.
The motion, titled “Motion to Stop Further Misuse of FIFA and CAF Grants by the Nigerian Football Federation,” called for a full probe into the management of the grants.
Adesola argued that years of alleged mismanagement by football officials had contributed to the decline of Nigeria’s national teams.
He referenced comments by former Super Eagles captain, Sunday Oliseh, who accused the NFF of “stifling the growth of football in Nigeria through the misappropriation of grants from FIFA and CAF,” including the controversial handling of $1 million received ahead of the 2002 World Cup.
According to the motion, FIFA and CAF had disbursed more than $25 million to the NFF over the last decade, yet there was little to show in terms of infrastructure or football development.
Adesola stated that in December 2016, FIFA raised an audit query on the misuse of a $1.1 million development fund, reporting that $802,000 lacked proper documentation.
He added that this led to a directive from then Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, for an independent audit and a full account of the federation’s expenditure.
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The lawmaker further recalled that between 2018 and 2019, top NFF officials, including the then president, Amaju Pinnick, faced investigations by the EFCC and ICPC over allegations of financial mismanagement and sponsorship scandals.
He also pointed to a recent controversy involving a $1.2 million grant said to have been used for the construction of 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 $1.2 million claimed to have been spent on the project by the NFF,” Adesola said.
Comparing Nigeria’s situation to Kenya’s, Adesola noted that the Kenyan Football Federation reportedly used the same amount to build a modern and well-equipped facility.
“This further raises questions about the profligacy within the NFF,” he added.
With the African Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers fast approaching, Adesola warned that “there is a need to take decisive action on further misuse of public funds by the leadership of NFF.”
The motion was unanimously adopted by lawmakers during the plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Consequently, the House agreed to establish a special investigative committee to review all financial grants received by the NFF from 2015 to date.
The committee is also expected to summon the NFF leadership to present detailed records of funds received and how they were utilised.