No fewer than 12 properties belonging to top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation have been seized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Among the officials affected are President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick and 2nd vice president of the football body, Shehu Dikko.
Others newly indicted by the investigation are Head of NFF Technical Committee, Ahmed Yusuf, and NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi.
Findings by our correspondent on Sunday showed that Pinnick owned a majority of the properties, with one of them situated in the United Kingdom.
A breakdown of the properties seized, according to a document obtained by Sports Extra, shows that Pinnick owns six, Sanusi has three, and two belong to Yusuf.
Though details obtained on Dikko’s seized properties were sketchy, officials of the ICPC earlier seized one of his properties, located on 1, River Benue Close, Maitama, Abuja, on Friday morning.
The document showed Pinnick’s properties seized as a mansion located at 2C Layi Ajayi Bembe Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos; a bungalow located at 3, Oritsejafor Close, GRA, Warri; Brownhill Event Centre located at Plot 6/7 ELF Road, Ogunmu-Warri, Warri Central, Delta State.
Other Pinnick’s properties seized by the anti-graft agency are a bungalow located at First House, 3rdStreet, DDPA Housing Estate, besides Delta Broadcasting Service, Asaba, Delta State; an apartment at Regents Plaza, 8 Greville Road, North Maida Vale, London NW6 5HU, UK; Plot 1805 Cadastral Zone A10 Maitama II, Abuja vide Right of Occupancy dated 15/05/2019 with file no. DT 64003.
The document listed Sanusi’s seized properties as the house beside the Mosque of Alheri School, off Tsafe Road, near Guiwa Low-cost Housing Estate, Sokoto; Plot 8001 Cadastral Zone E08 vide offer letter dated May 15, 2019 with file number KW30584; and a property at 6A, Tangier Street, off Sudan Street, Zone 6, Abuja.
Two seized properties belonging to Yusuf, according to the document, are a bungalow located at First House on Prison Yard Road, off David Mark Road, Minna, Niger State; and another bungalow located at Bosso Estate, behind State Government, Orphanage Home, Minna, Niger State.
Sources in the anti-corruption agency told our correspondent that the investigation may extend to other officials of the NFF with “suspicious property.”
“This is the first phase of the investigation. Others may be involved later but I can confirm to you that many officials of the NFF are under investigation,” the source added.
When contacted on the telephone, the spokesperson of the ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, debunked reports on social media that seals on Pinnick and Dikko’s houses had been removed.
Dikko’s house was sealed on Friday morning, before officials of the ICPC again proceeded to seal Pinnick’s mansion in Park view Estate, Lagos, in the afternoon.
She said, “Our work is still ongoing. We have seized those properties and other ones. The full list on Dikko’s seized properties will be available tomorrow (Monday). The one for Pinnick and two other characters are already available. But our investigation is ongoing.
“Both Dikko and Pinnick’s sealed properties remain seized. If the seals are removed, those that did that are not our officials. We are investigating something about them. What they have is in excess of what they have earned.”
Okoduwa also debunked reports that President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, was influencing the ICPC’s investigation.
An online report earlier claimed that the NFF officials lobbied Kyari to stop the investigation.
But the ICPC spokesperson said, “If we are continuing with our work, including enforcement action, then I don’t see any influence in that regard.
“If we are going ahead with our work, then there is no credence to the allegation. Our action shows that we are independent in the investigation.”
On allegation that the anti-graft agency didn’t get any court order before seizing the properties, she said, “There are different instances that warrant getting court orders. To seize, our (ICPC) Chairman has the power to do so according to our law.”
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