Gara-Gombe reveals why he dragged AFN to EFCC, queries continued payment of Federation’s money into private accounts

Chairman Gombe State Athletics Association, Alhaji Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe says he petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over financial improprieties in the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN.

An AFN Audit Committee had in September 2023 uncovered monumental fraud in the AFN and recommended the redeployment of Rita Mosindi, the Federation’s Secretary General at the time.

‘The Federal Ministry of Sports should urgently redeploy the Secretary General as she has proved not to have the capacity to head the secretariat of the federation and be its chief administrative and accounting officer,’ the Committee wrote in its report.

Mosindi was also asked to refund ‘all monies spent without budgets and approvals.’

The Committee, headed by Tafida Gadzama, the Federation’s first vice president also recommended Tonobok Ojuru Okowa, the AFN president to refund the N40m he claimed he was paid for loaning some money to the Federation.

According to the Committee, there was no agreement between the AFN and its President regarding the purported loan and Premium Trust Bank sponsorship money should not have been spent on refunds for something outside the terms of agreement between the bank and the Federation.

The Committee also pointed to several willful violations of the terms of agreement between Premium Trust Bank and AFN, with the payment of the sponsorship fee into an undisclosed account other than what is stipulated in the agreement.

Gombe, an athletics stakeholder, says he had to act to stop the plundering of the AFN.

‘Having not been satisfied with the explanations offered and also not satisfied with the position taken by AFN itself, I want an independent body to investigate the AFN financial activities. That’s the reason for the petition to EFCC,’ he said in a report on Newsworth Magazine.

‘The petition was actually directed at AFN President Tonobok Okowa and former Secretary Rita Mosindi. These are the two people, but there’s no way these two would be investigated without the role played by the AFN marketing consultant,’ Gombe was quoted as saying.

Gombe is worried that nothing has changed in the administration of the sport despite the redeployment of Mosindi as Secretary General.

‘Note that immediately the former AFN scribe Rita Mosindi was removed they have gone back to same old ways.

‘The new Secretary General sent letters to State Athletics Association for registration/subscription asking them to make payments or dues into a private bank account.

‘This is a Secretary General that was posted just recently to AFN, they have started giving him different orientation,’ Newsworth Magazine further quoted Gombe as saying.

Gara-Gombe said he would not pay Gombe Athletics Association’s money for registration/subscription into any account not bearing the name of AFN.