There is no doubt that the development of football globally is one of the priorities and obligations of the world football governing body, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), which supports nations at the forefront of football with funds to build high-standard facilities such as the FIFA Goal Project.

Nigeria, as one of the affiliate bodies of FIFA, has at one time or another benefited from the Project. A visible example is the FIFA Goal Project in Package B of the Moshood Abiola Stadium located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

However, in furtherance of this gesture, FIFA proposed another such project called FIFA Goal Project 2.0 during the tenure of the former President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr. Amaju Pinnick, which was expected to be completed and put to use.

One of the projects was expected to be sited in Kebbi State and the other in Delta State, where Ugborodo was chosen as the location. While the project in Kebbi was completed, the Ugborodo case was different due to back-and-forth, blame and counter-blame between the then NFF and the contractor involved, Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Limited.

In a turn of events, it was recently reported that accusing fingers were pointed at the contractor, Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Limited, for stalling the completion of the project. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mr. Ebi Egbe, found the information misleading, untrue, and an attempt to blackmail and tarnish his reputation and that of the company, which is built on professionalism and high standards.

In recent interview session with journalists, Mr. Ebi Egbe clears the air on the allegations.

Question: Recently, your organization, Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction, was alleged by the former NFF president, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, to have abandoned the FIFA Goal Project construction in Ugborodo, Delta State, Nigeria. What is your response to the allegations?

Ebi Egbe: The former NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, did not treat or handle the FIFA Goal Project contract in Ugborodo fairly. Mr Amaju Pinnick only informed us of the FIFA project in the morning of the bid closing date and asked me to take my profile and all the bid requirement to the NFF office in Abuja.
We never had an opportunity to visit the project. When the contract was awarded to us and working drawings was handed over you us, my team and myself x-rayed the working drawings which clearly shows all the structural drawings design were for loads for structures that are relatively light with soil that has good load bearing capacity(stable land like Kebbi). We also noticed there was no soil test report, All indications from the drawing shows the project was going to be sited in upland not 3 hours boat ride to the project site.

The first day we went to the project site was on the hand over date, that was when we found out how difficult the terrain was, i personally confronted Mr Amaju Pinnick and i told him 1m dollars can not execute the Ugborodo project, he assured us that we were going to get variation on the Ugborodo project because he is incharge of the NFF and he will be going to the FIFA Council then.

It was on that assurance given to us that made us accept the commencement of the Ugborodo project, so I’m surprised by the turn of events when the promise was not fulfilled.

Question: What do you think is the major factor that has led to the project not being completed up till now, after so many years?

Ebi Egbe: The FIFA stadium construction site was not initially meant to be a 3 hours boat ride deep in the Atlantic Ocean, but Mr Pinnick used his influence as NFF President to change the project site to Ugborodo that is 3 hours away from any road network without considering the costs of constructing deep into the Atlantic Ocean.

FIFA had two projects in Nigeria one in Kebbi State, on stable land with access roads, at the cost of $1,119,000. The other was proposed to be sited in Warri South West Local Government for $1,080,000, but the former NFF President moved it to Ugborodo. To make matters worse, the FIFA stadium, according to the plan given to us by the NFF, was sited one meter from a river with no embankment. We had to move the project site 100 meters away from the river based on the instruction of Mr. Amaju Pinnick, and despite that, the site still got flooded.

We had to do land reclamation to safeguard the project, which was not part of our original bill. I raised concerns, but the NFF and Mr. Amaju Pinnick then assured us that I could include variables to cover the cost of constructing deep into the Atlantic Ocean.

I trusted them, which later turned out to be a big mistake. Moving the project site 100 meters inland placed it on a heap of sand with a 25% slope. Cutting down the slope took us almost a year, using my company’s earth moving equipment to reduce almost three meters of height over 10 hectares of land to the required level suitable for construction which, again, was not part of our bill.

Question: What steps did your organization take to remedy the situation, and did you inform the NFF?  Was that the only challenge stalling the completion of the project that has lingered for up to three years?

Ebi Egbe: No! No!! The drawings handed over to us for the Ugborodo project were also not properly approved by the Delta State Ministry of Lands and Housing because they were faulty and couldn’t be approved by any structural engineer or architect. We raised concerns. However, it took the then NFF consultant six months to correct the faulty drawings on the structural design of the Ugborodo pavilion that was approved by Delta State Ministry of Lands and Housing.

I can share a video of the day the NFF consultant visited the site to change the design from pad foundation to full raft foundation for the Ugborodo pavilion.

After cutting down almost 3 meters of sand to get a suitable level for construction we needed to also raft the foundation of the 5 acres perimeter fence which was not also captured in our bill of quantity and the working drawings. The NFF consultant promised to bring back a new set of corrected foundation drawings for the facility’s fence, and it has been almost three years now we are still waiting.

The funny thing about all this, Mr Amaju Pinnick kept given us bogus assurances and promises that FIFA will pay us variation, he even went as far as loaning us 100,000 USD and 5 million Naira with agreement that when FIFA pays we can refund him. Dr Sanusi the secretary General of the NFF told me FIFA had agreed to pay up variation on the Ugborodo project.

Question: Have you met again with the NFF to discuss the way forward on how the project can be completed?

Ebi Egbe: We’ve had series of meetings with FIFA and the NFF in Abuja about the Ugborodo project. In our last meeting, we resolved that FIFA/NFF and Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Limited should appoint independent quantity surveyors to evaluate the Ugborodo Project.

Question: Have the appointed bodies carried out the assignment given to them in order for the project to be completed?

Ebi Egbe: FIFA, NFF, and Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Limited surveyors went to Ugborodo to quantify the level of work done and evaluate the actual project cost. When the evaluation report came out, the Ugborodo project was valued at over $3.5 million simply because of the terrain.

Question: How much have you been paid for the work done so far?

Ebi Egbe: The NFF, under Amaju Pinnick, paid us $500,000 in two trenches. The NFF also deducted over 100,000 USD as Nigerian tax knowing fully well that FIFA donations tied to a developmental project are not taxable in Nigeria. We have been sending mails to the NFF without any response. Recently. We had no choice but to inform FIFA through our legal team about our predicament with the Ugborodo project.

Question: Has the FIFA project team visited Ugborodo:

Ebi Egbe:Yes they have and they were not very comfortable with the terrain, the technical director of the NFF was among the team that visited the site with the FIFA TEAM. If you’ve never been on a boat in a sea before you can’t visit Ugborodo twice.

Question: Do you still have your equipments at the Ugborodo site or you have quit the site: Yes, we have earth moving equipments worth over 250m rotting away at Ugborodo with the hope that NFF will release my funds to get the project completed. What do you think can be done to resolve these issues so the project will be completed for the benefit of Nigerians?

Ebi Egbe: What Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Limited stands for is the growth, development, and advancement of sports in Nigeria. We are always ready to contribute our quota to this cause. We are ready to come to the round table and discuss the modalities on how this project can be completed because, as a company, we are not happy that the project is lingering but the right thing must be done. Constructing 300 miles deep in the Atlantic Ocean is no cheap, the NFF should release my project funds so we can get the project completed. We are a reputable organization that holds professionalism in high esteem, which has sustained us over the years. We are ready at any time for dialogue, for the progress of sports in Nigeria. However, Mr Pinnick and others involved has to see and state the obvious in this project.