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 allegations of mismanaging the N90 billion allocated for the 2024 Hajj subsidy.
Documents obtained by Punch on Wednesday revealed that the EFCC recovered a total of SR314,098 from the NAHCON chairman and other senior officials as part of their ongoing investigation.
The anti-graft agency’s investigation suggests that Arabi, along with others, fraudulently overpaid themselves from the allocated funds.
According to the documents, the 2024 Hajj operational costs were approved at $4,250 for the Chairman/CEO, $12,750 for Commissioners, $3,825 for the Secretary, and $15,300 for Directors/Chief of Staff.
However, the EFCC alleges that these officials received amounts far exceeding their entitlements. For example, the chairman was reportedly entitled to SR15,929 but received SR50,000, while three commissioners, who were supposed to get SR15,929 each, ended up receiving SR40,000 each.
The secretary received SR30,000 instead of SR14,336, and the directors/chief of staff received SR30,000 instead of the SR2,550 they were entitled to. The EFCC recovered the overpaid sum of SR314,098 from all the involved officials.
Arabi had previously been questioned by the EFCC on July 29 and was released on bail. However, last Wednesday, top officials of the Hajj Commission were also arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on similar charges of mismanagement or diversion of the N90 billion subsidy.
A source within the EFCC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the NAHCON Chairman was again taken into custody for further questioning on Wednesday.
“The Secretary and Chairman of the commission are currently in our custody and are undergoing intense interrogation regarding the N90 billion subsidy and other allegations,” the source disclosed.
An exclusive document revealed that SR8,614,175.27, withdrawn in cash from the N90 billion released by the Federal Government, remains unaccounted for by NAHCON. The document detailed the financial transactions, noting that the Federal Government had released N90 billion to subsidize the 2024 Hajj operations.
However, N1,764,705,937.62 was deducted as bank charges by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the remaining N88,235,294,063.72 was converted into USD and then transferred to NAHCON’s British SAAB account in Saudi Arabia, which was later converted into Saudi Riyal (SR).
Further investigation into the commission’s activities since 2022 has led to the recovery of funds, including estacodes paid to staff who did not participate in study tours and payments made to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd for services not rendered.
The EFCC documents also reveal that all supporting documents for the payment of consultancy services were backdated fraudulently to justify the payment of SR780,019.59 to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd on April 14, 2024.
Jalal Arabi reportedly confessed that the consultancy services were never rendered. The commission’s secretary allegedly manipulated the minutes of an Expanded Transitional Exco meeting to include the approval for the payment of the consultancy fee under Any Other Business (AOB) in order to facilitate the misappropriation of funds.
The EFCC also recovered SR1,026,000.00, equivalent to about N430.92 million, from one Eastern Gulf Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This investigation remains ongoing, with further details expected to emerge as the EFCC and ICPC continue their probes into the mismanagement of the 2024 Hajj subsidy.
