Investigations into the N90 billion hajj subsidy approved by President Bola Tinubu for the 2024 pilgrimage has further exposed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to abnormalities in spending and operation of the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), tracing 25 million Saudi Riyal (worth N10 billion) to different private companies accounts inside the country and abroad.
The companies, according to sources from the anti-corruption agency, were linked with top executives of the agency and staunch members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A breakdown of the funds discovered by the anti-graft agency to have left the commission to different private firms, sources said, was 17.8 million Saudi Riyal (about N7.5 billion) and 8.3 million Saudi Riyal (about N3.5 billion).
Top officials at the EFCC disclosed to The Guild that the anti-graft agency plans to recover the funds from the accounts they were deposited before September.
Before this, the NAHCON chairman, Jalal Arabi, and the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, were detained by the anti-graft agency, and there were indications that both personalities may not be allowed to return home soon.
The discovery, as gathered, has prompted the anti-graft agency to pause its investigation into the N90 billion subsidy approved to ease pilgrims’ journey for hajj while expanding investigations on the NAHCON chairman’s management of funds since assumption of office.
A detailed audit into how the subsidy for the 2024 Hajj was spent could further reveal other secrets that were never open to Nigerians, especially President Bola Tinubu who approved the funds in response to Nigerians’ yearnings that the new fee announced by NAHCON before the airlifting of intending pilgrims will prevent them from performing their religious rites.
Meanwhile, the ongoing investigation advocated for by lawmakers and governors after the 2024 pilgrimage has started yielding the desired results with recoveries made by the anti-graft agency.
The investigation has aided the recovery of huge foreign currencies from the NAHCON boss who many raised concerns on his appointment after being recommended by the Vice President, Kassim Shettima.
Another source at the EFCC headquarters, who was privy to the information narrated to our correspondent that over 1 million Saudi Royal has been recovered from a firm that was linked to the chairman of NAHCON.
The source claim was also corroborated by a document sighted by our correspondent which indicated that the fund was about N431 million which was recovered from Eastern Gulf Company in Saudi Arabia, a firm brought by the chairman after his appointment.
According to the document, The chairman, through this company, raked the above-said amount from the rent and accommodation made for pilgrims in Madinah, the Saudi Arabian holy city.
“Another sum of 1,750,020.00, equivalent to about (N787,509,000) was also recovered from another company, Shurakaa Alkhair Group Ltd, which worked during the just concluded 2024 Hajj.
“The firm was hired by the chairman of NAHCON to work as a consultant and received said above figure from (20M SR) that Saudi Govt refunded to the Nigerian Govt through the consulate and foreign affairs ministry to the national Hajj Commission.
“The refund was long overdue, and the refund was initiated a month after the current Hajj Commission chairman assumed office.
“Our recoveries so far were outside the N90 billion intervention fund Mr President approved for the commission for the 2024 hajj, as we are just about to launch a full investigation into how the N90bn was used during the hajj”, the document revealed.
A staff of the agency, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, stated that the chairman has proven them right, saying “We knew this will happen because he was removed by the former President, Muhammad Buhari, following the Presidential Villa Hospital saga where Arabi was linked with mismanagement of funds allocated to the medical facility.
