Flying Eagles: N12m hotel bill inflation rocks NFF

Alhaji Maigari...NFF President

Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) have been enmeshed in yet another scandal with the intention to defraud the government following allegation of N12million scam involving two senior officials of the federation barely few days of the news making the rounds that the federation paid some board members and staff contingent to Germany for the recently concluded FIFA Women World Cup even when they were unable to travel, though they denied it.

It was gathered reliably that the new scandal broke out from the Port Harcourt camp of the Flying Eagles which have since travelled to Panama where they continued their preparations for the FIFA U 20 World Cup and are already in Colombia, the host country.

After the team’s camping at the Somitel Hotels and Resorts, off Peter Odili Road, Trans-Amadi in Port Harcourt, top NFF officials (names withheld), allegedly inflated the hotel bills and miscellaneous expenses of the team to the tune of about N12million, a claim that made eyes to protrude in the secretariat in Abuja.

NFF, in order to unearth the matter, aptly dispatched a staff to Port Harcourt two weeks ago to ascertain the financial claims. The initial report of the audit staff showed that a lot of shady deals actually trailed the Port Harcourt camp of the Flying Eagles.

Following the claims submitted by the top NFF officials as expenses incurred by the federation for camping the team in the garden city, it was not clear if the Chibuike Amaechi administration actually rendered any financial support to the Flying Eagles like his Edo State counterpart, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole did for the Dream V team.
Impeccable sources disclosed that the NFF in fact spent more money in the Port Harcourt venture than it would have done if the team had been camped the team in Abuja, which is more expensive ordinarily.

“It is high level of insincerity because we went to Port Harcourt so that we can get some rebate but I can tell you figures from the camp exercise are irritating to common sense and accounting principles. The NFF was forced to investigate the latest bill sent to it by some officers and it was found that the bill was in excess of what the hotel demanded.”
The source wondered why such claims should come from top officials of the federation who should be at the vanguard of ensuring that finances are managed to prevent the NFF from going cap in hand more so when the federation is crying for help.

Meanwhile, the PRO of the hotel, who simply gave her name as Julia confirmed to this reporter in a telephone interview that the Rivers State government footed part of the bill for the team’s camping but added that she was not in a position to say if the hotel forwarded any bill to the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) talk less of saying the exact amount quoted.

The PRO insisted that it is against ethics to disclose business transactions between them and their clients to a third party and noted that she could not confirm if the said bill emanated from the hotel.
When pressed further, the PRO who refused to disclose her surname said all she knows was that the national U 20 team was camped in their hotel but she could not confirm if any bill was issued to the NFF not to talk of inflating the amount.