NAHCON probe: Tinubu sacks Arabi, appoints Usman as chairman

President Bola Tinubu has fired Jalal Arabi as Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and appointed Prof Abdullahi Usman to replace him.

The appointment followed the continued detention of Arabi, who served as the chairman until after the 2024 Hajj. Arabi has been with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the management of the N90 billion approved for the 2024 hajj by Tinubu. He was accused alongside some others on the Board of NAHCON of awarding funds to themselves over what should have been due to them.

Presidential spokesman, AjuriNgelale, disclosed this in a statement yesterday. He stated, “Prof 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. The President expects the new Chairman of NAHCON to discharge his duties with integrity, transparency, and utmost fidelity to the nation.”

EFCC arrested Arabi and the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora. An EFCC source had said 314,098 Saudi Riyals was recovered from the sacked NAHCON chairman.

“The chairman fraudulently overpaid himself, the commissioners, the secretary and the directors for the 2024 hajj operational cost. “The chairman was entitled to SR15,929 but he got SR50,000; three commissioners who were meant to get SR15,929 each received SR 40,000 each. The secretary got SR 30,000 instead of SR14,336. Directors/Chief of Staff received SR 30,000 instead of the SR2,550 they were entitled to. The total of SR314,098 were recovered from all of them,” the source said.