The Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Jalal Arabi, and the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, are under custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly mismanaging the N90bn 2024 Hajj subsidy. The EFCC investigation revealed that Arabi fraudulently overpaid himself and others beyond the approved operational costs.
According to the 2024 budget, the Chairman/CEO, commissioners, secretary, and directors were allocated $4,250, $12,750, $3,825, and $15,300, respectively. However, the EFCC alleges that Arabi overpaid himself SR50,000 instead of SR15,929, the commissioners received SR40,000 each instead of SR15,929, the secretary got SR30,000 instead of SR14,336, and directors/chief of staff received SR30,000 instead of the SR2,550 they were entitled to. The EFCC recovered a total of SR314,098 from them.
