Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report
The malfeasance in the administration of football in Nigeria has come to a head as the country’s anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), have started investigations into how funds released by the Federal Government to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were spent.
Specifically, both EFCC and the ICPC are probing how the N12 billion Federal Government intervention fund released to the NFF for the clearance of backlog of players’ allowances and bonuses as well as the salaries of coaches in the employment of the federation was spent.
According to a report by SaharaReporters and verified by THISDAY, all financial records and utilisation logs regarding the N12 billion Federal Government Intervention Fund released for players’ wages and bonuses are already with the EFCC and ICPC.
The NFF now under fire for the free-fall of the country’s football that has seen the Super Eagles, Super Falcons, age-group teams like the U-17 and U-20 male and female teams failing to qualify for World Cups, admitted in a letter that it was under investigation by the two bodies.
The disclosure was contained in a letter with reference number NFF/LEG/10/1/879 and signed by Onoja Joshua, Esq., on behalf of the General Secretary of the NFF, Dr Sanusi Mohammed, in response to a request for the disclosure of financial records and utilisation logs relating to the fund.
The letter, dated August 18, 2026, was addressed to the Principal Partner of Cromwell & Okeke, following a correspondence dated August 7, 2026, but received by the NFF on August 11.
SaharaReporters claimed to be in possession of a copy of the letter written by the NFF in response to the enquiries, made under the Freedom of Information Act.
The request sought access to financial records and other documents concerning the N12 billion Federal Government intervention fund reportedly released to the NFF for players’ wages and bonuses.
However, the football federation said it could not release the requested records because the matter was already under investigation by the two anti-corruption agencies.
The latest focus on the NFF is as a result of the woeful performance of the Super Falcons in the just concluded 2026 Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco. Super Falcons as cup holders were knocked out in the quarterfinal and failed in the playoff to qualify for the Women’s World Cup scheduled to hold next year in Brazil. It was the first time that 10-time champions Falcons will not reach the semifinal at least and also the first time since the inaugural edition of the Women’s World Cup in 1991 that Nigeria will fail to qualify for the Mundial.
In the 2026 FIFA World Cup that was jointly hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico, the Super Eagles failed to make the cut. It was the second time Eagles were missing the tournament back-to-back in 2022 and 2026. The country’s Flying Eagles and the Golden Eaglets also missed qualifications to the world stages despite the massive financial support the NFF has received from the Bola Tinubu administration.
In the midst of these failures, the leadership of the NFF led by Ibrahim Musa Gusau is busy gallivanting the length and breadth of the country, soliciting for votes of members of the Elective Congress to be returned to office for another four years as president of the country’s football administration.
An Elective Congress has been scheduled to hold in Lafia, Nasarawa State on September 27, where members of the congress, made up principally by State FA chairmen will rubber-stamp Gusau.