In the middle of the scandal, the N90 billion subsidy, which was approved by the Bola Tinubu administration in May 2024 to support the pilgrimage. The House of Representatives dropped a bomb shot at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (Nahcon), and the agency convicted of major corruption, financial mismanagement and direct fraud in dealing with the 2024 HAJJ exercise. A Protection Committee led by Hon. Sada Soli, which represents Jibia/Kaita federal constituency in Katsina state, exposed the shocking offenses in a damning report submitted to the home. The investigation was launched on July 14, 2024, after the speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, a motion by Kwara legislature, Omar Bio, approved. In the middle of the scandal, the N90 billion subsidy, which was approved by the Bola Tinubu administration in May 2024 to support the pilgrimage. The move, strongly criticized by Nigerians struggling with the hardships of the removal of fuel subsidy, is now exposed as a guidance for monumental fraud. Despite the government’s intervention, state managers were left frustrated with the handling of Nahcon’s operation, citing substandard accommodation in Muna and the slight basic travel allowance for pilgrims. Complaints have transferred over poor planning, extortion and mismanagement. With increasing pressure and public outrage, President Tinubu was forced in August 2024 to fire the chairman of the Nahcon in the Nahcon and replace him with Abdullahi Usman. This comes after the Commission for Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) Arabi and Nahcon secretary Abdullahi Contagora charged their roles in a million dollars fraud scheme. Documents from the home examination contain a cesspool of corruption within Nahcon. Pilgrims were charged as much as N9 million, but there was no clear exposition of the cost. Even worse, the federal subsidy of N90 billion was paid in secrecy, with some pilgrims benefiting disproportionately, while others got nothing. The findings of the House Committee exposed the financial mismanagement of Nahcon, which revealed that the entire subsidy was transferred in the foreign accounts in Saudi Arabia, with no mechanism to detect how the funds were spent. Pilgrims were left stranded and forced to endure terrible conditions in Medina and Muna, despite paying excessive fees. Further investigations revealed the profound friction between Nahcon and licensed private tour operators, leading to service errors. The tour operators raised the alarm on Nahcon’s questionable fee structure, which imposed the contradictions between the charges imposed on private operators, and those imposed on pilgrims imposed by the state. In another shocking revelation, the House Committee marked Nigeria’s bilateral air agreement with Saudi Arabia, which instructed a Saudi airline to air 50% of the Nigerian pilgrims. Lawmakers described the arrangement as a direct sabotage of the aviation industry in Nigeria, which requested urgent intervention from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Aeronautics. The House Committee also uncovered gross mismanagement within the federal capital Muslim peels Welfare Council. The board of directors, which budgeted for only 20 officials, sponsored 54, which caused unpaid estacodes and unnecessary financial tension. Transport logistics was a direct disaster, with elderly pilgrims forced to move long distances due to poor coordination of buses. Others were abandoned at checkpoints in the excessive conditions, which were left at the grace of the Saudi authorities. The report also sheds light on the abuse of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of personal travel allowance for pilgrims. The CBN quoted volatile exchange rates and electronic payments resistance as reasons for its decision to approve 100% cash payout. This, in turn, put tremendous pressure on commercial banks and exacerbated the situation for travelers.
House of Reps accuses Nigerian Hajjs Commission on subsidy fraud of N90 billion
