Three Nigeria Football Federation officials have been allegedly indicted in a fraud of about £9.5 million (N3.4 billion) in FIFA grants for personal use, Economic and Financial crimes commission disclosed on Thursday.
In a statement made by the Nations anti-corruption unit to the public, Christopher Andekin, Jafaru Fadanari mamza and Rajan Zaka allegedly committed a crime back in 2015.
“The money was a grant given by the Federation of International Football Association, for the development of football in Nigeria,” it added.
EFCC lawyer Steven Odiase reveal to reporters outside the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja that the case have been adjoined to a further hearing on November 28.
The body’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren in a press statement with AFP disclosed that the defendant pleaded not guilty, and were given bail on the condition they drop their passport and a £5 million surety.
Andekin is the Director of Administration and Finance at the NFF while Mamza heads the finance and accounts department. Zaka is a cashier.
It is also alleged that Andekin fraudulently diverted N1, 353,407.22 from the domiciliary account of the NFF domiciled in one of the new generation banks, without following the right channel.
The trio was supposed to have been arraigned on Monday on five counts of fraud but the media learnt it could not hold because their counsel said he had just been served with the charge sheet and therefore asked for more time to study the charges.