The House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to probe the alleged disappearance of the sum of $150,000 from the coffers of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The House said the amount was given as a grant to the athletic federation by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).
Adopting a motion by Rep Diri Douye (PDP, Bayelsa), the House said there were reports that the international federation was to send $15,000 as its annual grant to the Nigerian body last year, but that it mistakenly sent $150,000.
However, the House said, plea by the international body for the balance of $135,000 to be refunded to it were not successful as the money was said to have disappeared from the Nigerian federation’s account.
Thus, the House mandated the committee on sports to conduct a forensic audit on the alleged disappearance of the grant and determine steps to be taken to refund the money to prevent Nigeria from sanctions.
The House further asked the committee to determine measures to be put in place in preventing such occurrence in future.
The panel would equal invite Dalung, officials of the AFN and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as other stakeholders to explain their various roles in the matter.
Douye said some board members of the AFN called for an emergency congress to look into the scandal and have faulted the sports minister, Solomon Dalung who was said to have set up a committee to probe the circumstances surrounding the missing grant.
“The image of the country is not only being tarnished by the failure of the AFN to refund the excess payment at the instance of the IAAF, Nigeria also runs the risk of being banned from international competitions,” he said.
