Operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) have invaded the headquarters of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) Abuja, over alleged mismanagement of N90 billion intervention for the 2024 hajj.
The ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare who confirmed the raid, said it was sequel to the refusal of the officials of the commission to honor the ICPC’s invitation for questioning.
Operatives of the agency spent several hours ransacking different offices in NAHCON headquarters and even stopped work in some strategic offices including that of the chief executive officer, finance and procurement departments.
Bakare said after seizing some documents, the ICPC operatives arrested the NAHCON’s director of procurement for further investigation.
Bakare told The Guardian that, “Yes, we are investigating the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria.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.”
On July 30, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) grilled the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Jalal Ahmad Arabi, over the management of the controversial N90 billion hajj subsidy.
The investigation follows a series of petitions filed against NAHCON essentially on alleged poor management of services during 2024 exercise and the utility of Federal Government intervention, the anti-graft agency said.
In response, NAHCON had provided records on how the Federal Government intervention was allocated in the last Hajj operations.
Arabi said the commission had paid over N1.6 million each on over 50,000 pilgrims and officials to subsidize the high cost of services occasioned by variation on naira to American dollar exchange rate.
