The National Sports Commission has said the embattled President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, was arrested by operatives of the Directorate of State Service to investigate the fire outbreak at the Glass House.
The Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, who is also the Chairman of the NSC, stated this on Saturday in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Patrick Omorodion.
Alhaji Maigari, it could be recalled, was picked up by operatives of the DSS in Abuja shortly before the Congress of the NFF and some Nigerians insinuated that the Bauchi State-born administrator was arrested to prevent him from presiding over the Congress.
The statement reads: “It is however, on record that the former Acting President of the NFF, Chief Mike Umeh had, immediately after the fire outbreak which razed part of the NFF secretariat in Abuja, said he suspected sabotage by some people who are desperate to perpetuate themselves in power and called on the police to investigate the incident.
“The arrest of Maigari and some other officials of the NFF by the DSS is part of its routine to investigate the fire incident and interrogate some suspects based on the report of officials of the NFF and therefore had nothing to do with the NSC as is being erroneously insinuated.
“It is a fact that arson is a serious offence in Nigeria’s criminal law and anybody who is suspected to be involved, no matter how highly placed, must be investigated to verify his or her culpability or otherwise and appropriate sanction meted to such individual.”
Meanwhile, the NSC also stated that it is not unaware of the crisis bedeviling football administration in Nigeria and is assuring all football stakeholders that Danagogo was doing everything to ensure that peace returns to the NFF.
According to Danagogo, the NSC was still studying the situation and “at the appropriate time we will say something about it in order for our football to move forward”.
He added: “Already I have started calling the parties involved in the dispute to know their grievances and find a way out of the crisis because it is not healthy for the development of our football.”