The Ghanaian Minaret

Abuja, Nigeria: Nigeria’s anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has granted bail to Jalal Arabi, former chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), and his secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora.

According to Nigeria’s Punch newspaper, the two who were released on Monday had been in custody for five days over alleged illegal withdrawal and the mismanagement of the N90 billion 2024 Hajj intervention fund.

The media outlet also disclosed that no further recovery had been made yet after the first 314,098 Saudi Riyals (SR).

In an August 15 report, the newspaper indicated that the said amount was retrieved from the former NAHCON chairman and other ranking officials that included commissioners, secretary, and directors for the 2024 Hajj operational cost.

They had engaged in overpaying themselves contrary to the approved 2024 Hajj operational cost, the EFCC alleged.

“The chairman was entitled to SR 15,929, but he got SR 50,000; three commissioners who were meant to get SR 15,929 each received SR 40,000 each. The secretary got SR 30,000 instead of SR 14,336. Directors/Chief of Staff received SR 30,000 instead of the SR 2,550 they were entitled to. The total of SR314,098 were recovered from all of them,” the newspaper reported, citing an investigative document.

Moreover, an amount of SR 8.6 million in cash withdrawal was yet to be accounted for, investigations had shown.

The news report also indicated that apart from the Hajj intervention fund, an investigation into the commission’s activities since 2022 resulted in the recovery of estacodes paid to staff who did not undertake study tours.

There were also payments of SR 1.026 million and SR 1.8 million made to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd. for consultancy services that were not rendered.

Preliminary investigations established that documents for payment of the consultancy services, including the Chairman’s approval, were fraudulently backdated to January 23, 2024, to enable the payment of the sum of SR 780, 019, 59 to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd. on April 14, 2024.

“A meeting of the Expanded Transitional Exco was held on January 25, 2024, with seven members and 18 staff in attendance, but the payment of the consultancy services to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd. was not discussed.

“The commission’s secretary slotted the approval for the payment of the 7.5% consultancy to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd in the minutes of the Expanded Transitional Exco meeting as item 10 under AOB to enable the perfection of the documentation to steal the funds.

“That the said sum of SR1,026,000.00, equivalent to about N430.920 million, was also recovered from one Eastern Gulf Company Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” as quoted by the newspaper from the document.

The President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has appointed Professor Abdullahi Usman to replace Jalal Arabi as NAHCON chairman.