The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami has ordered the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) to hand over the case file involving the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Melvin Pinnick and four other top officials.
SPIP has charged Pinnick and NFF vice-presidents Seyi Akinwunmi and Shehu Dikko as well as NFF executive committee member Ahmed Yusuf ‘Fresh’ and general secretary Mohammed Sanusi for alleged corruption.
The 17-count charges include failure to declare their assets to conflict of interest and embezzlement of $8.4 million prize money paid Nigeria by FIFA for the country’s participation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The case (FHC/ABJ/CR/93/2019) has been listed to open on Tuesday, May 28, before Justice Ifeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
This followed the failure of the NFF officials on May 13, 2019, to stop SPIP from arresting and prosecuting them.
In a separate suit, Justice Ojukwu threw away the prayer of the NFF officials for an interlocutory injunction against SPIP.
However, in a most bizarre turn of events the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the office of the Attorney General has now ordered SPIP to hand over the case file.
In a letter dated May 22, 2019, and signed by deputy director Public Prosecutions Garba Haganawega on behalf of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Malami, the anti-graft agency was instructed to forward the case file to the director of Public Prosecutions for “further action”.
The letter was anchored on what it described as “glaring bias” by SPIP chairman Okoi Obono Obla against the NFF officials.
It also referred to a civil case involving Tijani Musa Tumsa and the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ANOR over the forfeiture of assets which challenged the capacity of the SPIP to prosecute criminal cases.
SPIP has since appealed this case at the Supreme Court and as such status quo ought to be maintained pending the final judgment.
Officials of the SPIP refused to comment on the matter.
By Samm Audu
