FG withdraws corruption charges against Pinnick, other NFF officials

The Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Tuesday, struck out
the case of fraud brought against the President of the Nigerian
Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick.

The court made the decision following an application by the
federal government to withdraw its case against Mr Pinnick and
others accused of mismanaging money gotten from the Federation of
International Football Association (FIFA).

The federal government had in May arraigned Mr Pinnik and four
others on 18 counts for allegedly diverting the sum, which was
given to the NFF as fees for appearing at the last Russia 2018
World Cup.

The five officials, including the NFF Secretary, Sunusi
Mohammed; the 1st Vice-President, Seyi Akinwumi; the 2nd
Vice-President, Shehu Dikko and an Executive member, Yusuff Fresh,
were accused of misappropriating N4 billion without the approval of
the NFF.

They were also alleged to have contravened the law by failing to
declare their assets.

They were arraigned by the Special Presidential Investigation
Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP).

The panel, then led by Okoi Obono-Obla, has since been dissolved
by President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Obono-Obla is himself wanted for
allegedly forging a WAEC certificate.

“The prosecution withdrew the charges against the defendants.
And so we asked that the case be withdrawn. The court invoked
section 355 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to
withdraw the charges,” a lawyer representing the NFF officials,
Mohammed Katu, said on Tuesday.

The section quoted empowers the prosecution to withdraw its
charges against the defendant where necessary.

This trial is, however, separate from that being conducted by
the anti-graft agency, EFCC, against Mr Pinnick and others.