Lagos — What was to be the beginning of the travails of the Acting President of NFF, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, in the hands of fhe EFCC, was saved for him yesterday, plenty of thanks to the First Lady, Dim Patience Jonathan.

Maigari had concluded plans to join the Falconets in Germany yesterday by travelling out of the country after he had finished with answering questions at the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision, but he had ended up not satisfying the financial crime hunting agents of the commission at the end of the day and the decision to hold him down in Nigeria had been made.

However, in a dramatic turn of events, the interest of the First Lady in the affairs of the female Under-20 national team came to the surface to be his saving grace.Just when it was to be communicated to him that he could no longer travel to join the team, as further probes were to be conducted over his one statement too many late in the day, a letter had come in from The Presidency, informing the commission that the First Lady had been billed to travel to Germany to watch the girls' semi final match with Colombia tomorrow. As a result, the letter is quoted to have briefed the commission, Maigari should be excused for a few days on whatever help he is rendering the agency on the issues of unravelling any financial under hand dealings that might have taken place at the NFF in the past four years as he would be needed to accompany her to Germany.

After receiving the letter late in the afternoon, the agents of the commission had no choice than to release the Acting President around 6pm yesterday. Before he failed the EFCC grilling, the new NFF helmsman had already booked a flight on Lufthansa Airline for last night to Germany for the Falconets' semi final clash of tomorrow.

Alhaji Maigari spent the better part of yesterday (over eight hours) at the office of the commission, getting grilled by agents.

A source within the commission's corps of agents told exclusively last night of what caused the decision to hold back Maigari. According to him, the Acting President of the footballing body had done well with all the questions he was asked, until the very last one, which by intelligence gathering standard and investigative norms, he had fluffed. The question that failed Maigari, according to the source was as to what he was going to do in Germany since he had capable officers already there taking care of business on behalf of the Glass House.

His first answer was said to have satisfied the agents drilling him, which was that he was going to Germany in order to be a further source of moral and motivational backing for the girls. But as an aside he was said to have added that he would also be going with some of the girls' financial dues.The last answer was said to have put the clear-headed agents on the alert.

According the source, the rationalisation was that if he was going to Germany with some financial remuneration for the girls, it must therefore mean that the team had ran out, or are about to run out of cash. If this is not the case and the Acting President is going to Germany with one of his reasons being to supply money for the team, then it must mean the trip is another means of spreading money around that had not been worked for. The agents had therefore resolved to stop him for the day and instead, contact the team's leadership in Germany to tactfully inquire whether they had been having financial crisis or if all allowances had been provided for, up to the moment.

"Interrogation showed that there are still plenty of issues to be reconciled with what we already know. For now nobody has been found guilty but there are still some loose ends," the source disclosed last night.