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The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, has denied claims of financial misconduct involving the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the $1.19 million FIFA fund meant for the Birnin-Kebbi mini-stadium.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Dikko explained that the NFF never received or managed the money, as the project was handled directly by FIFA under its Forward Programme.
“No one collected the money,” Dikko said. “FIFA manages its projects directly. The NFF only provides the land and states what it needs. FIFA then appoints and pays the contractor itself.”
He stressed that this process is standard for FIFA-funded development projects, which are closely supervised to ensure transparency. Dikko, who oversaw Nigeria’s first FIFA Goal project, said he was confident the NFF had no access to the funds.
The NSC boss attributed the modest look of the Kebbi facility to Nigeria’s changing exchange rate. He explained that while the project was approved in 2015, the actual contract was not signed until 2020, by which time construction costs had significantly increased.
According to Dikko, the viral photo that sparked public concern only showed the first completed phase of the project, which was delivered through a public tender process.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Sports has opened an investigation into how the NFF manages FIFA and CAF grants, with the Kebbi mini-stadium project being a key focus of the inquiry.
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