Abakaliki FC Supporters Club Chairman Denies Embezzlement Allegations

The Chairman of the Abakaliki Football Club Supporters Club, Maurice Mbam, has strongly denied allegations that he misappropriated funds meant for supporters after the President’s Federation Cup competition in Lagos.

This was disclosed in a statement following an interview with journalists in Abakaliki, where Mbam described the embezzlement claims as “baseless, malicious, and calculated attempts to tarnish his reputation.”

He clarified that the N4 million reportedly released by the state governor, Chief Francis Nwifuru, for the team was not paid directly to him in full. According to Mbam, the Ministry of Youth and Sports transferred only N1.5 million to his personal account as the share allocated to the Supporters Club.

“I sent my account number to the accountant of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and they wired 1.5 million. That is our own part of the money. So, the money came through Ministry of Youth and Sports. You understand?” he said.

Mbam said he immediately convened a meeting with the supporters who had traveled to Lagos, using the opportunity to express gratitude for their commitment and to explain how the money was distributed.

“I quickly called my publicity secretary, which is Spanish. I said, Spanish, put up a meeting for the supporters that went to Lagos so that I can address them and talk to them… We went to the stadium. I now explained this to them,” he said.

According to him, the club had decided to share the funds among not just the core supporters but also others who contributed to the team’s success.

“This is the decision of the club, that they have agreed that we are not the only people that supported them and that they have to carry other people along,” Mbam explained. “It will be unfair for us to also claim the whole money.”

He added that even those who could not make the trip but contributed in one way or another were still being considered. “I’m still paying them, 20,000. Because we are more than 100 Ebonyians and supporters who are registered. And they register with 5,000. So, they deserve also part of whatever comes to the club,” he said.

Mbam expressed shock over the social media allegations, saying he had fully accounted for the funds and had no reason to divert anything. “Lo and behold, that night, I received a call… telling me I should go to social media and look at what is going on… I went to social media and saw it.”

He also lashed out at unnamed political appointees, accusing them of stirring controversy for selfish reasons. “These appointees are more interested in lining their pockets than serving the people,” he alleged.

“I use to ask myself, why is it that it is easier for a government appointee to finish his house and furnish his house during the time he’s in government and then he will not succeed in anything in his ministry?” Mbam asked. “Why is it that personal activity of a political appointee is settled even before the position of the government requirement?”

Despite the controversy, Mbam praised Governor Francis Nwifuru for his commitment to legacy projects and the revival of abandoned developments in the state.

“The governor made a statement that he wants a legacy project in his name. And we owe him that,” he said. “For the first time, as I started politics, I see a governor going back to projects that were abandoned to attack it after so many years.”

Mbam concluded by saying that the completed infrastructure projects would speak volumes for the governor’s legacy, adding, “If you put the roads that have been given together… it is more than the one that the former governor have done.”