EFCC, ICPC INVITE NFF OFFICIALS OVER N12BN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FUND

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By:Tajudeen Aminat

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission have launched investigations into the utilisation of the N12bn Federal Government intervention fund released to the Nigeria Football Federation for the payment of players’ wages, allowances and bonuses.

The fund was approved by President Bola Tinubu in 2024 to settle outstanding payments owed to Nigeria’s national teams.

A source familiar with the investigation told our correspondent on Thursday that some officials connected to the matter had been invited by the anti-corruption agencies and had provided statements.

“They have been under our radar before now. We invited some officials over to our offices, and they gave their statements. Presently, they are on administrative bail. We have not ended our investigation,” the source said.

The development followed a request by Cromwell & Okeke for access to financial records and utilisation documents relating to the N12bn fund under the Freedom of Information Act.

In a letter dated August 18, 2026, and signed by Onoja Joshua, Esq., on behalf of the NFF General Secretary, the federation declined to release the requested documents, citing ongoing investigations by the EFCC and ICPC.

The letter, addressed to the Principal Partner of Cromwell & Okeke, referenced the firm’s August 7 correspondence, which was received by the NFF on August 11.

The NFF stated that all documents relating to the request had been submitted to the two anti-corruption agencies for investigation.

President Tinubu approved the N12bn payment in January 2024 to clear outstanding obligations to Nigeria’s national teams. The funds covered coaches’ salaries, allowances and other payments owed to the Super Eagles, Super Falcons, U-20 teams and other national squads.

The investigation comes amid continued concerns over the management of Nigerian football and allegations of unpaid allowances and bonuses owed to national team players.

In November 2025, the Super Eagles boycotted a training session in Morocco over outstanding allowances, while members of the Flying Eagles also complained in April 2026 about unpaid bonuses and camp allowances amounting to N1.5bn.

The probe also comes as NFF President Ibrahim Gusau seeks re-election at the federation’s planned September 27 elective congress.

The spokespersons for the EFCC and ICPC, Dele Oyewale and John Odey respectively, could not be reached for comments at the time of filing the report.