The auditors who worked on the financial books of the Nigeria Football League Limited for the year ended June 2012 have raised the alarm over missing N38m in cash. The broadcast rights fraud is part of the comprehensive embezzlement chronicled by the auditors with the first part published exclusively by The PUNCH on Thursday.
The report submitted by Olaniyi Wale Odunaiya & Co to the executive secretary of the board alleged that a lot of fraud was going on with this aspect of sponsorship of the Nigeria Premier League even while teams cry out for cash on daily basis.
The auditors wrote, “We were able to trace the sum of N115,358,730 (One hundred and fifteen million, three hundred and fifty and fifty eight thousand, seven hundred and thirty naira only) to the bank statement as payment made by Total Promotion Limited in respect of the season under review as league’s television broadcast right.
“According to the executive secretary the outstanding balance of N38,141,270 (Thirty eight million, one hundred and forty one thousand two hundred and seventy naira only) was paid through physical cash, we were unable to trace this outstanding revenue. This is one of the many ways Total Promotion Limited has helped institutionalise corruption in Nigeria Football League Limited/Nigeria Premier League. A responsible organisation would make payment of this nature directly into the company’s bank account.”
The auditors have recommended full investigation by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission of Total promotions and their payments to the NPL from the inception of their relationship for alleged unethical practices. The NPL board failed to provide any answer to the requests made by the auditors on this subject.
So much controversy has trailed the television broadcast rights for the Nigeria premier League over the years. While many followers of the game believed that so many things have been hidden from public view by the NPL, the board members never addressed the subject.
The October start off for the current league season was postponed on the recommendation of the Minister of Sports Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi to enable proper investigation and reorganisation of the running of the league be carried out. On Monday, the NPL board announced they were set to kick off on December 1. We could not reach the Minister to find out if the league will start as scheduled in the light of the auditors’ report.
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