Disquiet in SWAN over Sirawo’s handling of FIFA COVID-19 $30,000 largesse
With the support of one of the vice presidents of NFF, Sirawo was said to have collected the $30,000 but journalists are not happy with the way the money was shared
By
Olukayode Thomas
Members of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) have expressed their displeasure with the way factional chairman of the body Honour Gogoro Nornubari Sirawo disbursed the $30,000 that accrued to SWAN as a share of the money football world governing body, FIFA, gave football federations all over the world to cushion the effect of COVID-19.
Members who spoke off the record because they are scared that Sirawo could unleash officials of Director of State Security (DSS) on them the way he did to officials of SWAN in Abuja and Lagos claimed that the factional national chairman of SWAN has not rendered account of how the money was disbursed till date.
“ He only gave a few of his followers a few thousands of Naira, till date he has not rendered an account of how the money was disbursed even to members of his faction”, said a former member of SWAN national executive who worked with Sirawo in his first tenure before he resigned.
Officials of NFF told this reporter that Sirawo got $30,000 from the NFF and that before he got the money it was war.
The source revealed that the President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Chris Isiguzo wrote to the Sports Minister Sunday Dare and NFF president Amaju Pinnick that the money should not be handed over to Sirawo since there are two factions of SWAN.
One led by Ahmed Aigbona, now late. The Aigbona faction was the one recognized by NUJ. In fact, the umbrella body of the majority of journalists in Nigeria conducted and supervised the election that ushered in Aigbona while Sirawo who has since pulled his faction of SWAN out of NUJ conducted and supervised his own election.
With the support of one of the vice presidents of NFF, Sirawo was said to have collected the $30,000 but journalists are not happy with the way the money was shared.
They want to know the sharing formula Sirawo used and what criteria was adopted.
When contacted, Sirawo dismissed those questioning how the money was spent as disgruntled elements. He used countless unprintable adjectives to qualify them and even rained insults and abuses on this reporter for asking him how the money was disbursed,
“Are you the NFF that gave me the money? I have rendered an account to NFF and they are not complaining? What is your own in this matter? You are not a SWAN member. “Said Sirawo.
A top official of SWAN who worked with Sirawo during his first term as SWAN chairman but later resigned told this reporter in Abuja last week that Sirawo abhors accountability, “When Governor Wike gave us money to travel to the last World Cup in Russia the money was shared according to his discretion, instead of following the instruction that the money should be shared equally among ten members nominated for the trip’’.
The former Exco member said his leadership of SWAN is an aberration, “it can only happen in Nigeria. This is somebody that cannot point to a story he has done in the last ten years yet he is calling himself a sports journalist. Now he is the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Sports yet he is leading a factional of SWAN, is that no conflict of interest?. You want to lead a body that is supposed to be performing oversight function on your organization”.
But Sirawo does not see a conflicting interest, “are there not members of SWAN in NAN, NTA, and other government organizations. They are civil servants and they are still members of SWAN so there is no conflict of interest” said Sirawo.
Though he boasts of his chains of degrees to this reporter, he is not discerning enough to know the difference between a journalist working in a government agency and a core administrator that he is now, or probably he is just being mischievous.
