The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, interrogated the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Jalal Arabi, over alleged mismanagement of the 2024 Hajj exercise funds, among others.
It was gathered that Arabi arrived at the EFCC’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja at about 10 am and was grilled for hours by EFCC investigators.
At a post-Hajj press conference in Abuja on Monday, the NAHCON chairman had said the N90bn Hajj subsidy was transparently utilised.
“Each pilgrim was supported with N1,637,369.87 from the N90bn except for pilgrims under the Hajj Savings Scheme who enjoyed more.
“Hence, all registered intending pilgrims, except those on HSS, were required to pay a balance of N1,918,094.87 since the N90bn was not sufficient to make up for the balance,” Arabi said.
In June, the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, called on the National Assembly to probe the N90bn released by the Federal Government to subsidise the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
The governor described NAHCON’s performance as a failure, saying, “The N90bn subsidy paid by the Federal government for the Hajj operation, with some states, including Niger, paying about billions of naira; there is need for the National Assembly to probe the N90bn the Federal Government released for the 2024 Hajj. It is ridiculous that pilgrims were given only $400 to take care of themselves for about 40 days despite the payment of N8m by each pilgrim.
“The N90bn would have made more impact if shared with states. The money is enough to run the Universal Basic Education budget for four years.”
On June 11, the House of Representatives , resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the NAHCON over the conduct of the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage.
The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion titled, “Urgent need to investigate the National Hajj Commission and the Federal Capital Territory Administration Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, their agents and sub-agents over shoddy arrangement and treatment of Nigerian pilgrims in the 2024 Hajj exercise.”
The motion was moved by the lawmaker representing Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency of Kwara State, Mr Mohammed Bio.
Describing Hajj exercise as an important obligation important in the life of every Muslims and one of the five pillars of Islam, Bio lamented that about 50, 865 Muslim pilgrims across Nigeria were under the care of NAHCON in 2024, noting that some of them were not taken care of in terms of welfare, organisation, guidance and monitoring as expected.
