Get Guardian on Google
The Media Support Team (THAT) has urged the National Assembly to probe Jalal Ahmad Arabi for the misappropriation of missing funds at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
The group said that Professor Abdullah Saleh Usman, the new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON is not under any investigation over the missing N90 billion hajj subsidy.
Ibrahim Abubakar Nagarta, National coordinator of the group in a statement insisted that subjecting Professor Usman to legislative scrutiny was not necessary since the new NAHCON Chief was reportedly innocent.
Consequently, the group urged the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee to rather channel the genuine investigation appropriately by inviting the immediate past Chairman, who under his leadership the mismanagement of the N90 billion.
“We, therefore, wish to unequivocally call on mischief makers to desist from campaigns of calumny against the National Hajj Commission’s Chairman, in the interest of fairness, which is one of the cardinal principles of the pen profession,” Nagarta said.
Tinubu announced the appointment of Professor Usman, a renowned scholar with qualifications from two Islamic centres of excellence the University of Madinah and Peshawar University, Pakistan.
Usman’s appointment came after Jalal Ahmad Arabi was sacked. However, no reason was made to the public over his removal.
But the former NAHCON Chairman was facing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion presidential subsidy for the 2024 hajj at the time of the replacement.
