2024 Hajj: ICPC raids NAHCON Abuja Office over alleged mismanagement of N90bn
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has raided the headquarters of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in Abuja over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion intervention for the 2024 hajj.
The anti-graft operatives reportedly stormed the hajj house shut down official activities in some strategic offices, including the office of the chief executive officer, finance and procurement departments.
The sting operation reportedly lasted several hours further brought the commission under public scrutiny on the appropriation of N90 billion subsidy granted for 2024 year’s hajj.
Apparently not satisfied with the available records, the anti-graft agency went away with the commission’s director of procurement for further investigation, our source said.
However, ICPC Spokesperson, Demola Bakare, confirmed the visit of operatives of the agency to the Hajj house but said it was on routine investigation.
Bakare was silent over the nature of the investigation but hinted that the raid was necessitated by the refusal of some officials of the commission to honor ICPC’s invitation.
Responding to an enquiry, Bakare said: “Yes, we are investigating the National Hajj Commission. We invited some officials who either failed or refused to honour the invitation. We therefore paid them a friendly visit.
“We didn’t shut down the Commission. ICPC operates within the confines of the law”.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had grilled the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of (NAHCON), Mal. Jalal Ahmad Arabi, over the management of the controversial N90 billion hajj subsidy.
The investigation followed series of petitions filed against NAHCON essentially on alleged poor management of services during the 2024 exercise and the utility of Federal Government intervention, the anti-graft agency said.
Nevertheless, NAHCON had clarified the doubt on the allegations and further provided record on how the federal government intervention was allocated in the last exercise.
Addressing a world press conference in Abuja, Arabi said the commission had paid over N1.6 million each to over 50,000 pilgrims and officials to subsidise the high cost of services occasioned by variation on naira to American dollar exchange rate.
Credit: Nation
