Newly elected President of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has admitted that though he spent money during the elective congress held in Warri, Delta State, it was however not up to the amount people are claiming.
Pinnick, who fielded questions from sports writers in Abuja, also cleared the insinuations that a N10 million honorarium was attached to the life president of the football federation given to his predecessor, Alhaji Aminu Maigari.
He said the Federation does not have such amount of money.
On the Dollar rain during the election in Warri, Pinnick said: “I can tell you that there is no election they don’t use money.
“But it is not to bribe people.
“You can use money for logistics, like people coming, you fly them in and make them happy.
“Even Obama spent money in his elections, had a trust fund.”
“So I’m not going to tell you that I didn’t spend money.
“I spent money but not the volume of money people are talking about.
“Everybody spent money.
“Everybody that contested in that election spent money but it’s not to say you’d use the money to bribe people.
“Or are you saying I do not merit it?”
Commenting on the N10 million monthly salary for Maigari, he said: “There was nothing they have not said about my emergence except that I am a woman.
“I want to think that my election was divinely scripted but people still find it difficult to believe. So, they cook up all kinds of stories.
“There was nothing like that and there was no truth in that rumour.
“With the approval of the Executive Committee, I decided to make Aminu the honorary life president because of what he has done.
“We won so many honours that he seems to have the magic wand.
“I won’t say that I will not consult him from time to time because I did the same thing with Solomon Ogba when I took over from him.
“We must always consult to tap from their experience.
“I will consult Lulu, Galadima, Oneya and others.
“It is always good to consult to minimise the mistakes I will make.
“If I say that I will not consult, I will be wrong, but for anybody to think that I will give Maigari N10 million, I will say it is not possible.
“Where am I going to get the money?
“We are going to run a transparent government in all our dealings.
“Even if you are giving money as a gift, you have to bring it to the board.
“What attracted corporate Nigerians to my election was that I have proven to them that all the funds given to they gave to us in Delta State were used for the purpose they were meant for.
“We must create that platform for people to know that you are transparent in all your dealings and that is exactly what we intend to do.
“I don’t want a situation where I will be dragged from one place to the other in four years’ time whether I am running or not.
“We want everything to go seamless and smooth.
“Probity, transparency and openness will be our watchword.”