The chief accountant described Mr. Maigari’s insinuation that the fire emanated from an electric problem from his office as untrue. “What they are saying is not true. I didn’t plug any electrical appliance before the fire started. There was no electrical problem in my office. So there’s no way I could have been the one to have mistakenly plugged something,” said Mr. Christopher.
The chief accountant of the Nigeria Football Federation, Andekin Christopher, has come out to dismiss reported claims by the federation’s immediate past president, Aminu Maigari, that the fire that engulfed the NFF’s Glass House headquarters was triggered by an electrical fault from the chief accountant’s office.
Speaking exclusively to a correspondent of SaharaReporters yesterday, Mr. Christopher said that the fire left him suspecting foul play considering the timing. The fire took place a few days before elections to choose new officials of Nigeria’s football governing body.
The chief accountant described Mr. Maigari’s insinuation that the fire emanated from an electric problem from his office as untrue. “What they are saying is not true. I didn’t plug any electrical appliance before the fire started. There was no electrical problem in my office. So there’s no way I could have been the one to have mistakenly plugged something,” said Mr. Christopher. He added, “the security operatives are still investigating the incident and hopefully the truth will come out.”
Last week’s fire, which started about 9:30 a.m., capped a series of other controversies that had swirled around the NFF, seriously affecting Nigerian football. The fire first began as smoke that wafted out of the office of the chief accountant on the third floor of the federation’s building. The smoke later developed into a full-blown fire that destroyed valuable items and documents, including files in the offices of the chief accountant, the general secretary, and the ICT unit before the arrival of the men of the Fire Service.
It took an hour before fire fighters from the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service and Federal Fire Services were able to extinguish the raging fire.
Nigeria’s security operatives are currently investigating the cause of the mysterious fire.