N12.5 Fraud In Sports Ministry | Gov Orders Commissioner To Refund Illegal Deductions From World Cup Delegation's Travel Expenses.

A fraud is currently rocking the Benue State Ministry of Sports and Youth Development over N12.5 million deductions made from N31.5 million by the Commissioner, Igbiri Idaa, from travel expenses of the state's delegation to Brazil.

The money is part of travel allowances and other entitlements for the 15 government and sports officials from the state that are billed to travel for the World Cup fiesta currently holding in the South American country.

Daily Independent learnt that the total sum which amounts to about N31.5 million was approved by the state government for the delegates to each spend one week in Brazil for the football event. However, trouble started when the state Sports Commissioner embarked on the illegal deductions from the N2.1 million allocated to each of the delegates to the competition, Daily Independent sources revealed. The deductions which amounted to about N32 million did not go down well with both the government and sports officials that were affected by the action. Our sources further revealed that a whooping N500,000 was deducted from the allowances of each of the delegates to be shared between the commissioner and other officials of the Sports Ministry. It was further gathered that Idaa had told the team that the deductions were part of visa fees as well as other "sundry fees" that had to be taken care of by the ministry before the delegation embarked on the trip.

However, Daily Independent learnt that the incident did not go down well with the state governor, Gabriel Suswam, when news of the deductions got to him. He therefore ordered the commissioner to immediately refund to the affected persons every dime he deducted from their allowances. All efforts to get the Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development in the state, Igbiri Idaa, to respond to the allegations proved abortive. He did not pick his calls, neither did he respond to text messages sent to him. 

Source | Daily Independent.