Chicago Inquirer's Logo
AFRICA
Thursday, September 09, 2010


Archive       |     Search This Site
Article's Picture













President Jacob Zuma South Africa .

Former officials of Nigeria FA charged with corruptionFormer officials of Nigeria FA charged with corruption
by Sam Audu
ABUJA, Nigeria-Sani Lulu, the former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and three others pleaded innocent on Tuesday to corruption charges involving six million dollars of a 2010 World Cup budget.

Lulu, alongside former vice-president Amanze Uchegbulam, a former secretary-general Bolaji Ojo-Oba and and ex-board member Taiwo Ogunjobi, face a 10-count charge of mismanaging 900 million naira (six million dollars) of the national squad's World Cup budget.

They entered their not guilty pleas and a High Court in Abuja set out stringent conditions for them to be freed on bail.

The four, whose trial date is yet to be fixed, are also accused of paying out allowances to unauthorised officials.

They will also answer to charges of incurring a fine for a last-minute change of a World Cup training base for the national team and splashing out 400,000 dollars to stage a friendly against Colombia in London before the World Cup.

High Court judge Donatus Okorowo ordered each of the officials to produce two sureties and deposit a 100 million naira (660,000 dollars) bond by Wednesday in bail conditions.

One of the sureties must be a senior public worker, while the other will be of high standing in Nigeria.

The guarantors will have to present their tax clearance certificates for the past three years and also have fixed property in Abuja.

Charges against the four were brought by Nigeria's anti-graft police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

"We have established some infractions against the officials and they will now be prosecuted for these infractions," Femi Babafemi, EFCC spokesman said earlier.

The officials were first quizzed by EFCC in July.

In the meantime, a Lagos High court has nullified the August 26 elections of the executive committee of the NFF because it was conducted in defiance of a court order.

"The purported election held into the elective offices of the NFA, trading under the name of NFF, on August 26, 2010, is hereby nullified," declared Justice Okon Abang.

The court ordered the most senior secretariat staff to take over the NFF.



printer Print Article
send Send To A Friend
printer Comments On Article
Third seed Djokovic advances to US Open semi-finals

NEW YORK-Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday, defeating French 17th seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2, in windy conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

CLEVELAND, Ohio-President Barack Obama Wednesday admitted some of his policies were unpopular and had not revived the economy quickly enough, but sought to rekindle his frayed bond with American voters.

UN gives 13 million books to Zimbabwe schools

HARARE-The UN Children's Fund on Wednesday launched a scheme to provide 13 million textbooks to Zimbabwe's students, in a 50-million-dollar effort to revive the struggling school system.

HOBYO, Somalia-Piracy off the coast of Somalia is booming despite a massive deployment of international warships, with an estimated combined coast of 40 million dollars a day.

Chicago Inquirer Web Poll
Over a year ago, the US predicted that Nigeria will break up in 15 years. Now, the once peaceful Plateau State is in tumor. Is Nigeria moving towards the break up?

Yes
No
Indifferent


                                         

     National   |    Africa   |    US Africa   |    Chicago Metro   |    Business   |    Sports   |    Politics   |    Nation & World   |    Religion   |    Education   |   
Editorial / Op-Ed   |    Point Blank   |    Opinions   |    Letters   |    Arts   |   
Privacy Policy   |    Search   |    Contact Us   |    Work For Us   |    Media Kit    |    Site Map     
Copyright © Chicago Inquirer. All rights reserved.
Designed and Powered By WebSpinners Ltd