Manchester United of England striker, Odion Jude Ighalo is facing an unusual kind of controversy that is spreading at one of the clubs he played for in Nigeria before travelling abroad, as the sum of €10,000 meant as commission to lower division league side, Osun United FC of Oshogbo from his transfer to Old Trafford is said to have gone missing, megasportsarena.com reports.
In reaction to the unsavoury development, members of Osun State House of Assembly have launched a probe into the matter, as the lawmakers aim to get to the root of what they called a mysterious disappearance of money the club was entitled to from the 31-year-old former Super Eagles’ striker’s loan deal that saw him leave Shanghai Shenhua of China to United in February.
Although officials at Man United and Shenhua insist the equivalent of N4.5m has already been paid to the Nigerian club, no one has been able to account for its whereabouts, thereby causing the legislators in Oshogbo to open an investigation into what has been tagged alleged diversion of money that was received by Osun United, which Ighalo played for when they were still known as Prime FC before he moved to Lyn Oslo of Norway.
With Ighalo’s deal at Old Trafford later extended until January 2021, there is bound to be more money heading into the coffers of Osun United, but the assemblymen are alarmed that even the first installment cannot be accounted for by anyone at the Nigerian National League (NNL) club which allegedly received the money at a time when they were struggling financially and found it difficult to pay their players’ salaries or even register for the 2020/21 season.
The lawmakers pointed out that €10,000 accruing to the club from Ighalo’s loan deal at United would have helped the club meet their financial commitments, but speculation is now running wild that the said amount did not even enter the did not actually enter the team’s bank account.
Chairman of Osun State House Committee on Sports, Honorable Adrullahi Adegbile admitted as much in a media chat, during which he also confirmed that an investigation into the matter is already ongoing and assured that anyone involved in the saga will be summoned and punitive measure handed out to anyone that ight be found culpable at the end of the probe.
Adegbile told The Punch newspaper: “When we got the information, we invited all the parties. After a thorough investigation into the issue, I assure you, we will make our findings public. We will still invite them this week.”
However, some 24 hours later, the club’s media officer, Tajudeen Amodu came out to boldly state that the said €10,000 gain from Ighalo’s loan to United has been moved into the account of Osun State Ministry of Youth and Sports.
He downplayed reports that the team’s management is being probed by the House of Assembly over the alleged diversion of money gained from Ighalo’s return to England, insisting that the payment had already been moved from the club’s coffers to the government’s account under the watch of the state’s ministry of sports.
Amodu told goal.com: “When a new board is appointed there should be a change of signatories to the club’s account but it’s under processing until the lockdown started. Those who were part of the immediate past administration, some of them are still signatories to the account and they are the ones that signed for the release of the money.
“Those people, we can say they are heavily involved in the Ighalo money because they have to sign before the money is removed from the coffers of Osun United, all of them are working together and the money is in the custody of the commissioner.
“They signed for the release of the money to the government purse, initially some people would have embezzled it but they signed to put in the hands of the commissioner which is the account of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Osun State.”
