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 mismanagement of the N90 billion 2024 Hajj subsidy, according to sources.
Available documents on Wednesday revealed that the EFCC recovered a total of SR314,098 (Saudi Riyal) from Arabi and other top officials of the commission.
Advertorial
The anti-graft agency’s investigation suggests that Arabi and others fraudulently overpaid themselves and others from the Hajj subsidy funds.
The approved 2024 Hajj operational costs for various officials were $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 the Chairman received SR50,000 instead of his entitled SR15,929, and other officials similarly received inflated amounts.
Advertorial
The EFCC first interrogated Arabi on July 29 and released him on bail, but he was brought in again for questioning and detained on Wednesday.
According to a source within the EFCC, both the Chairman and Secretary of NAHCON are under intense scrutiny regarding the N90 billion subsidy, among other allegations.
Additionally, an exclusive document revealed that SR8,614,175.27 in cash withdrawals from the N90 billion subsidy remains unaccounted for by NAHCON.
Advertorial
The document outlined how the subsidy was converted into Saudi Riyal and deposited into a British SAAB Account in Saudi Arabia.
Significant withdrawals were made during the 2024 Hajj operations, but discrepancies in the expected cash payments have raised suspicions.
Further investigations into the commission’s activities since 2022 led to the recovery of estacodes paid to staff who did not undertake study tours and payments made to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd for services that were never rendered.
It was also revealed that supporting documents for consultancy payments were backdated to facilitate fraudulent transactions.
Jalal Arabi reportedly admitted that the consultant did not render any services, and the EFCC recovered SR1,026,000.00, equivalent to about N430,920,000, from a company in Saudi Arabia related to these dubious payments. The commission’s Secretary was implicated in altering meeting minutes to justify these payments.
The EFCC is continuing its investigation into the matter, as the full extent of the alleged financial misconduct at NAHCON is yet to be determined.
