President Bola Tinubu on Monday wielded the big stick, sacking the embattled Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, Jalal Arabi and appointing Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman as his replacement.
A statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, announced the appointment shortly after Tinubu departed for France.
It noted that Professor Usman is a renowned scholar with qualifications from two Islamic centres of excellence—the University of Madinah and Peshawar University, Pakistan.
He is also well-grounded in Hajj operations, having served as the Chairman of the Kano State Pilgrims Board and successfully superintended the operations of the largest quota of state pilgrims in the country.
The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Ajuri said the President expects the new Chairman of NAHCON to discharge his duties with integrity, transparency, and utmost fidelity to the nation.
DAILY POST recalls that trouble started for Arabi when anti-graft agency, EFCC, invited him to answer petitions filed against him, which led to his detention.
The anti-corruption agency was alleged to have also received petitions from some concerned staff members of NAHCON.
The agency was reported to have uncovered a multi-million-dollar fraud allegedly perpetrated by top officials of NAHCON under Arabi.
The anti-graft agency’s discoveries came from an extensive investigation into the suspicious use of funds allocated to NAHCON for Hajj operations over the years.
It revealed that the EFCC investigation dates back to 2022 after an operative of the anti-graft agency, who served on the NAHCON Central Security Committee that year, hinted at several infractions in the use of the Hajj commission’s funds.
Some of the irregularities allegedly highlighted in an intelligence report submitted by the EFCC after the stint on the NAHCON security committee include the payment of estacodes to staff for a study tour that never took place and payment for a consultancy service that was not rendered, among others.
Subsequently, EFCC said it wrote to NAHCON, highlighting lapses in its administrative process and providing necessary advice while also investigating the lead its operatives provided.
The intelligence report alleged “a multimillion-dollar case of conspiracy, misappropriation and mismanagement of pilgrims funds paid for the 2022 Hajj operation” by top officials of NAHCON.
It was recently reported that Mr Arabi had been detained by the anti-graft agency in Abuja. This was after he was grilled and released on bail on July 29.
While undergoing grilling, some top officials of the commission were also arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, over alleged mismanagement or diversion of Hajj funds.
EFCC had reportedly uncovered that estacodes were paid to some NAHCON staff members for a study tour to Indonesia that never took place.
Although the agency made efforts to recover the funds, it kept mum on the actual amount involved.
Tinubu sacks NAHCON boss Jalal Arabi, appoints Saleh Usman as replacement