The Vice President Kashim Shettima has warned the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) boss, Prof. Abdullahi Usman, to immediately shelve all plans to adopt authoritarian leadership style to administer the agency affairs.
Shettima, who criticized the chairman for bypassing the board through ad-hoc committees, stressing that the NAHCON Act does not support sole authority and that board members must be actively involved in decisions impacting pilgrims’ welfare.
He gave the warning on Thursday following multiple allegations, including procurement breaches, misconduct, marginalization of board members, and unauthorized appointments.
In a statement by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Hadejia, the vice president warned that the NAHCON boss must ensure that all members of the commission work together to achieve hitch-free 2025 hajj exercise.
The riot act came shortly after board members submitted a six-page petition to Shettima’s office, accusing Usman of sidelining them from their statutory roles.
The petition, signed by eight commissioners representing Nigeria’s six zones and Islamic bodies, NSCIA and JNI, described their exclusion as deliberate and unjustified.
Additionally, the Association of Senior Civil Servants had earlier accused NAHCON of favouritism and displacing commission staff with pool officers, raising concerns over administrative irregularities in a March 3 letter.
In another letter, Shettima opposed Usman’s request to rehire retired officers, insisting it could lead to redundancy and internal conflict. He instructed the commission to reverse such hires and conduct a workforce audit instead.
The vice president also scolded Usman for breaching protocol by hand-delivering a letter instead of following proper State House correspondence procedures.
Meanwhile, some NAHCON staff have welcomed Shettima’s intervention, accusing Usman of betraying trust by secretly pursuing the reappointment of former staff after promising to drop the idea.
Others went further, calling for Usman’s dismissal, citing a toxic work environment and unresolved conflicts with staff, stakeholders, and service providers.
They alleged he had handed key roles in the commission to family members, including his son, brother, and nephew, and urged security agencies to withdraw his personal aide who was accused of meddling in the commission’s affairs.
