The Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Jalal Arabi, and the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, have been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged mismanagement of the ₦90 billion Hajj subsidy for 2024.
The EFCC revealed that Arabi and other officials were involved in fraudulent overpayments during the Hajj operations.
The investigation showed that Arabi received SR50,000 instead of the SR15,929 he was entitled to, while three commissioners and other officials also received significantly more than their approved allowances.
A total of SR314,098 was recovered from them.
The EFCC also found that a sum of SR8,614,175.27, withdrawn from the commission’s account, remains unaccounted for.
Additionally, the investigation uncovered that funds were misused for services not rendered, with fake approvals backdated to facilitate fraudulent payments.
The document stated, “While investigation commenced on the criminal aspect which has led to the recovery of Estacodes paid to staff, who did not travel to Indonesia for study tour, also recoveries were made for services not rendered of the sum of SR 1,026,000.00 and SR 1,780,019.99, being purported 7.5% of consultancy paid to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd for debt recover of the sum SR20, 637,908.23 from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Saudi Arabia.”
“All supporting documents for payment of the consultancy services, including the Executive Chairman’s approval, were fraudulently backdated to January 23, 2024, to enable the payment of the sum of SAR 780, 019, 59 to Shuraka’a al-Khair Group Ltd on April 14, 2024.”
Arabi and Kontagora are currently undergoing intensive interrogation by the EFCC as the investigation continues.
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