Kebbi FA chairman denies misappropriation of FIFA mini-stadium fund

The Chairman of the Kebbi Football Association, Alhaji Abubakar Chika-Ladan, has dismissed allegations of misappropriation of funds and poor execution of the FIFA Mini-Stadium project constructed in the state.

Chika-Ladan told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Sunday that, contrary to rumours circulating on social media, the project was fully completed over two years ago and had since been put to use.

“There have been several insinuations that the project was not completed or was poorly executed and that funds were misappropriated by the National Football Federation.

“We are here to show the world that the mini-stadium was completed and has been in use since then,” he said.

Chika-Ladan said the facility had hosted several football competitions, both national and local, adding that Kebbi United Football Club used it as its home ground during the last football season.

“Zamfara United has also relocated to Kebbi to make use of the facility.

“What people are saying is only a figment of their imagination.

Those spreading such rumours are enemies of progress and of Nigeria,” he said.

Chika-Ladan explained that the project was directly handled by FIFA, which appointed both the contractor and consultant through an international competitive bidding process won by Nigerian firms.

“The project was valued at 1.8 million US dollars (about N400 million at the time), covering the construction of the playing pitch, a 250-seat pavilion, a medical clinic, dressing rooms for teams A and B, officials, perimeter fencing, landscaping, and maintenance equipment.

“The Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mr Shehu Dikko, has already provided clarification on the project’s implementation,” he said.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) in Kebbi, Mr Mansur Senchi, called on the National President of SWAN, Mr Isaiah Benjamin, to caution those spreading false information about the project.

“For someone to sit in another part of the country and write bogus, unfounded stories is unacceptable. We will no longer tolerate it,” Senchi warned.

The mini-stadium project in Birnin-Kebbi, funded under FIFA’s Forward Programme, has faced intense scrutiny following widespread criticism of its appearance and value.

The controversy gained traction when FIFA used the stadium’s image on its social media banner, prompting public outrage and calls for an investigation.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has said   

FIFA,not the NFF,managed the mini stadium directly.

Dikko, who spoke in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, dismissed the corruption allegations raised against the NFF regarding the mini-stadium, saying, “No one collected the money.”

He added that FIFA is hands-on with all its projects, and “the job of NFF is to provide the land.”

“I was the first person to deliver a FIFA Goal project in Nigeria, so I understand how this thing works.

“FIFA manages its projects directly. The job of NFF is to provide the land and say, ‘This is what we want.’ At the end of the day, it is FIFA that will appoint and pay the contractor to deliver what they had agreed on,” the NSC chairman said.

(NAN)