The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) has denied recent allegations of fraudulent activities involving the company’s role in the 2024 Hajj operations.
NAHCO, in a notice filed with the Nigeria Exchange Limited and signed by the Company Secretary, Bello Abdullahi, refuted the claims, said the allegations were “false, erroneous, and misleading,” with no connection to its chairman.
It reiterated that the content of the said social media post relating to alleged fraud in Hajj subsidy operations, pilgrims’ accommodations, and other Hajj-related matters, have nothing to do with the Chairman of NAHCO PLC, Seinde Fadeni’s.
Fadeni according to some social media posts, was alleged to be involved in the misappropriation of funds, including inflated estacodes, consultancy fees, and unaccounted cash withdrawals amounting to millions of naira.
The allegations, made by Mahdi Shehu, claim that Fadeni, along with other officials, paid themselves an inflated estacode of N137 million as well as backdating documents and fraudulently approving the payment of N778 million as consultancy fees to a non-existing contract.
“Out of the N90bn Hajj subsidy, the chairman instructed the withdrawal of N3.7bn in cash, and the same is yet to be accounted for,” he alleged.
He further claimed that other aspects of the Hajj operations, such as pilgrims’ accommodations, drugs, and transportation, were massively inflated.
NAHCO, however, urged the public, customers, and shareholders to disregard the unfounded allegations, emphasising that it remains focused on delivering value and upholding the trust reposed in the board and management.
