The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has joined the unexplainable spate of missing cash in the country.
Last month, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was unable to account for around N36 million, credited to have been swollen by a mystery snake.
Now, the country’s apex athletics body appears to have followed suit.
The AFN is unable to explain how extra grant issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was utilised.
IAAF mistakenly awarded the AFN $150,000 (N54million) instead of $15,000 (N5.4million)
The amount paid was supposed to be the annual grants to member federations for the year 2017.
When the IAAF accountants discovered the error, the AFN was asked to refund the $135,000 (N48.6million); however, the money had already disappeared.
The AFN’s vice-president, Olamide George, said that the majority of the board members knew nothing about the excessive grant.
“I think the money came just when we were taking over from the past administration,” George told The Guardian.
“But the truth is that it is only the AFN secretary who knows how he received the IAAF money.
“If the money was paid into AFN account, it could have gone through the Treasury Single Account (TSA). I am sure the secretary used his personal account to collect the money from IAAF, which I think is wrong.
“The secretary was transferred from AFN before, but the sports minister brought him back. They should tell Nigerians what happened to the IAAF money.
“I cannot be part of AFN board and all sorts of things are happening behind the scene. We must not fold our hands until IAAF sanctions Nigeria because of this issue.”
