The Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Jalal Arabi, and the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, are currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion 2024 Hajj subsidy.
According to a document reviewed by our correspondent, the EFCC has recovered a total of SR314,098 from Arabi and other senior NAHCON officials.
The investigation revealed that Arabi had fraudulently overpaid himself and others for operational costs associated with the 2024 Hajj.
The approved 2024 Hajj operational costs for various NAHCON officials were as follows: Chairman/CEO – $4,250; Commissioners – $12,750; Secretary – $3,825; Directors/Chief of Staff – $15,300.
However, the EFCC alleges that Arabi overpaid himself and others significantly. Specifically, Arabi was entitled to SR15,929 but received SR50,000.
Commissioners who were supposed to receive SR15,929 each got SR40,000 each. The Secretary received SR30,000 instead of SR14,336, and Directors/Chief of Staff received SR30,000 instead of SR2,550. The total excess payment amounted to SR314,098.
Arabi was initially questioned by the EFCC on July 29 and released on bail. Last Wednesday, several top NAHCON officials were also detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over similar allegations.
An EFCC source confirmed that both the Chairman and Secretary are facing serious interrogation regarding the N90 billion subsidy and other allegations.
Additionally, a document obtained by our correspondent revealed that SR8,614,175.27 from the N90 billion released by the Federal Government remains unaccounted for by NAHCON.
The document outlines that the Federal Government released N90 billion to subsidize the 2024 Hajj Operations, but N1,764,705,937.62 was deducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria as bank charges.
The remaining N88,235,294,063.72 was converted into USD 62,307,164.48 and then into SR233,527,252.47, which was deposited into NAHCON’s British SAAB account in Saudi Arabia.
This account showed a closing balance of SR78,985,266.03, including SR20,637,908.23 refunded from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Saudi Arabia.
However, SR22,815,367.74 was withdrawn in cash by Abubakar Muhammed Lamin during the 2024 Hajj operation, leaving an unexplained cash withdrawal of SR8,614,175.27.
Further investigations into NAHCON’s activities since 2022 revealed that estacodes were paid to staff who did not undertake study tours and payments were made to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd for unrendered services.
A total of SR1,026,000 and SR1,780,019.99 were recovered, with fraudulent documentation found for consultancy services.
Jalal Arabi admitted that the consultant did not provide the services, and the commission’s secretary had manipulated meeting minutes to approve the consultancy payment.
An additional SR1,026,000 was recovered from Eastern Gulf Company in Saudi Arabia.
