By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Executive Chairman of the Nigeria’s Commission in charge of Hajj to Saudi is still in detention along with the Secretary, over allegations of corruption, a reliable source within the anti-corruption agency – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has confirmed to the BBC.
Jalal Arabi and Abdullahi Kontagora, the Executive Secretary and Secretary of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, (NAHCON) are under probe on how they spent the N90bn ($56m) authorities had mapped out to support pilgrims in the 2024 Hajj.
Heritage Times HT reports that funding of religious affairs in the West African nation has attracted condemnation from many quarters, with many questioning the developmental value.
This happens at a time when other sectors, such as education, sports, and ICT are not getting adequate funding.
This has been attributed to why the Nigerian contingent performed poorly in the just concluded Olympic games in France, returning home with no medal, a development analysts said is traceable to lack of adequate preparation, including unavailability of modern training facilities.
The anti-corruption source alleged that a total of SR314,098 (over N120m) had been recovered from the NAHCON chairman and other ranking officials.
Preliminary probe indicates that Arabi used part of the support fund entrusted to him by the federal government in paying himself and other officials excessive amounts of money.
According to the source, the approved 2024 Hajj operational cost for the Chairman/CEO, Commissioners, Secretary and Directors/Chief of Staff in the 2024 budget contradicted what was stipulated.
The source said chairman was entitled to SR15,929 but got SR50,000; three commissioners, meant to get SR15,929 each, received SR40,000 each; the secretary got SR30,000 instead of SR14,336; Directors/Chief of Staff received SR30,000 instead of the SR2,550 entitled to.
The EFCC official said a total of SR314,098 was recovered from all of them.
Heritage Times HT recalls that anti-graft agency had first grilled Arabi for hours on July 29 and released him on bail.
The source said he was arrested on Wednesday but denied bail.
Also, last week Wednesday, some top officials of the Hajj commission were arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over alleged mismanagement or diversion of the N90bn subsidy.
