The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has failed to submit the 2025 Hajj report to the Presidency three months after the holy pilgrimage.
This failure is a clear violation of the NAHCON (Establishment) Act 2022, this newspaper can authoritatively report.
The law provides that the commission shall submit a Hajj report not later than three months after the annual pilgrimage.
Section 20 (1) of the act says that, “The Commission shall, not later than three months after Arafat Day, prepare and submit to the President, under whose Office the Commission shall function, a report on the pilgrimage for each year.”
Subsection 2 (a) provides that the “Commission shall at the end of each financial year prepare and submit to the President and National Assembly-
(a) an annual report of all the activities of the Commission in the financial year.”
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that Arafat was held on June 5, 2025, which makes September 5, 2025, three months exactly.
Insiders have told this newspaper that the report was not ready as of the time of filing this story — in clear breach of the NAHCON Act.
In the past, the commission submits its report to the Presidency immediately after Hajj to enable the commission to make earnest preparations for the subsequent year’s Hajj.
The inability of Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman (Pakistan) -led board to submit the 2025 Hajj report might have worried the Presidency — fueling its fears that the development may negatively affect the preparations for 2026 Hajj.
It was because of the fears of jeopardizing the 2026 Hajj that Vice President Kashim Shettima, according to sources in the Presidency, summoned Mr Pakistan and his three permanent commissioners, to a Hajj stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for Friday, September 12, 2025.
Insiders said this meeting is about the third to be convened by Mr Shettima in micromanaging the Hajj commission in less than one year — further exposing Mr Pakistan’s alleged incompetence and re-echoing calls for a change of guard at the country’s apex Hajj regulatory body.
Mr Shettima summoned the NAHCON chiefs through a letter dated September 4, 2025, with reference number SH/OVP/DCOS/NAHCON, and titled “NAHCON Executive Committee and Stakeholders Meeting with His Excellency the Vice President.”
“I have been directed by His Excellency, the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, to invite you for an important meeting to discuss outcomes from the 2025 Hajj Exercise and matters arising therefrom,” the letter addressed to Mr Pakistan, and signed by Senator Ibrahim Hassah Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), reads in parts.
The letter indicated that, “The Executive Commissioners are expected to provide a brief on the discharge of their departmental mandates to pave the way for a full report as per S20 (1) of the
NAHCOM Act, and representation from the Board, and the State Chairmen’s forum wil also be in attendance.
“The meeting will also address salient issues arising and establish guidelines for the diligent preparation of the 2026 Hajj Exercise for which a strict implementation calendar has already been sent out by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj,” the letter explained.
The meeting will be held in the Vice President’s Conference Room at 2.30 pm.
This newspaper gathered that this is the first time in the history of NAHCON that the Presidency had to stepped in to direct the commission to produce a Hajj report.
“This is puzzling. The Presidency didn’t only ask us to submit a report, but it did direct that the report should be produced first — apparently because they know there is no report on ground,” a staff member in the commission told one of our reporters in confidence.
Stakeholders in the Nigerian Hajj industry — including those in the Presidency who closely monitored the 2025 Hqjj — are jittery over the tight Hajj calendar released by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for 2026 pilgrimage and the widespread accusations of incompetence hauled against Professor Pakistan from all quarters.
Sources in the Presidency said some of the “salient issues arising” to be discussed at the Friday meeting in the VP’s office may not be unconnected to the various challenges that allegedly marred the 2025 Hajj operation, right from its preparation, coordination and execution under Mr Pakistan.
The reported poor outing of the Nigerian contingents during the 2025 Hajj, impeccable sources said, had forced the Saudi Hajj ministry to unprecedentedly establish a special team to monitor and coordinate the Nigerian pilgrimage.
Not only that, due to poor coordination by the NAHCON leadership, the Vice President had to micromanage the Hajj operation from service providers selection, Nigerian Hajj carriers slots in Saudi Arabia, among others, to save Nigeria from major embarrassment.
The fallout of this year’s Hajj operation was the factor why the Forum of State Chief Executives of Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards/Agencies and Commissions, and the registered tour operators, passed a vote of no confidence on Professor Pakistan.
The forum revealed its position during a Post- Hajj Strategy meeting held at the NAHCON Headquarters in Abuja on August 8, 2025.
This newspaper understands that the 16 points raised by the forum at the meeting, seven were linked to corruption allegations and financial infractions — with many of them now subject of investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
On the other hand, a group of registered tour operators had also passed a vote of no confidence on the Pakistan-led NAHCON, citing many alleged irregularities and administrative incompetence. They accused NAHCON of imposing service providers on the tour operators, under-hand dealings with service providers, inflation of contracts, persecution of companies challenging NAHCON decisions, favoritism, among others.
Other Hajj stakeholders who had face-off with the NAHCON incumbent leadership, according to findings by this newspaper, include Hajj airlines, Saudi service providers, adhoc Hajj officials, staff members, Board members, Saudi Ministry of Hajj, the Presidency, among others.
Insiders in both Nigeria and Saudi Arabia said the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had severally complained about Nigeria’s poor outing during 2025 Hajj, occasioned by NAHCON leadership alleged confusion, lack of coordination and administrative inefficiency.
Our reporters gathered from EFCC sources that the ongoing investigations in NAHCON that so far led to the arrest and detention of a dozen commissioners, directors and deputy directors was triggered by an 80-page petition with incriminating appendices allegedly sent to the anti-graft agency by some concerned staff members against Mr Pakistan, Commissioner of Finance, and other top officials.
“The allegations are specific and the evidences attached are crystal clear. Many heads would roll soon as we close in on some top guys indicted by the robust investigation inside the commission,” a source in EFCC conversant with the investigation confided in this newspaper.
