The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, has resigned.
Mr Pakistan resigned Monday evening after series of corruption allegations leveled against him and vote of no-confidence passed in him by the entire Hajj commission board.
His resignation was confirmed by the Technical Assistant Media to the NAHCON chairman, Ahmad Mu’azu, on Tuesday.
Mr Mu’azu told the Punch that the circumstances surrounding the resignation were still sketchy.
“Yes, he (Pakistan) has resigned, but I am still waiting for him to communicate his reasons, because he just sent a one-line message to us last night (Monday night), informing us of his resignation. I think proper communication will be done this morning,” Mu’azu said.
Some staff and board members of the commission as well as other Hajj stakeholders have described Mr Pakistan’s one and half year’s stint at the commission as the most controversial and riddled with most corruption allegations.
Mr Pakistan’’s exit came days after Saudi Arabian Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabbiah, visited and Nigeria and allegedly warned that the kingdom wouldn’t work with the then embattled NAHCON chief due to his reported leadership and administration inadequacies.
The Saudi minister arrived Nigeria on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, and met with the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, in Abuja.
During a closed door meeting between the two ministers, insiders said, the visiting minister was bitter about the continuous Hajj operation challenges Nigeria is facing since the assumption of Mr Pakistan, leading to the Saudi Hajj and Umrah ministry to form a special team to monitor Nigerian Hajj operations last year.
Pakistan’s fate was finally sealed after the visit, when President Bola Tinubu at the weekend reportedly told a national leader of one of the Islamic organizations in Abuja, who is also close to Mr Pakistan, of the impending decision to sack the country’s top Hajj chief.
The Saudi vote of no-confidence on Mr Pakistan was the key reason the visiting Hajj minister failed to visit the NAHCON headquarters despite elaborate preparations made by the former chairman to receive him at the Hajj House.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Mr Pakistan in 2024, but he officially assumed office in October of the same year after Senate screening.
Stakeholders said the cleric’s 15 months tenure was characterized by internal crisis, allegations of monumental corruption, arrests and detentions by anti-graft agencies, unprecedented Hajj challenges, among others.
Nigeria’s rating plummeted in Saudi Arabia under Mr Pakistan, triggering an unprecedented cut of the country’s 2026 Hajj quota to 50,000 from the original 95,000, thereby removing Nigeria from its longstanding position as the fifth-largest Hajj country globally for the first time.
Mr Pakistan was interrogated on October 7, 2025 by the EFCC over alleged fraud running into billions of naira. Some of the allegations against him include the alleged squandering of N15 billion on Masha’ir extra bed space, N1.6 billion on NAHCON staff spouses, and N8 billion on Makkah contingency bed spaces during 2025 Hajj.
Others allegations include the extra-budgetary spending of over 300 per cent of his approved budget; N25 billion expended on officials, staff, and board members; N1.4 billion as allowances of committees; and the mismanagement of Madinah bed spaces from 11,000 to 18,000 for 41,000 pilgrims.
Chief among the reported challenges, this newspaper learned, include the mismanagement of the Saudi NUSUK digital platform, payment for 14,000 unregistered pilgrims for Masha’ir services leading to the loss of N23 billion, absence of clinics in Madinah and delay in Makkah, failure to pay Saudi accommodation providers and caterers in time, and mismanagement of Madinah bed spaces.
There are also losing traditional Tent A in Mina for the first time in decades, withholding of Hajj airlines funds, stakeholder officials protest in Makkah over BTA cuts.
Another major encumbrance for efficient running of the commission is the reported infectious bad influence triggered by Mr Pakistan’s lack of administrative skills — that include very poor ability to read and write in English, as well as the gamut of corruption allegations that envelopes the commission under his watch.
On 21 January 2026, 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports how all the eleven permanent and non-commissioners of the Hajj Commission passed a vote of no-confidence in him, formally wrote to President Tinubu, demanding the sack of Mr Pakistan over alleged gross misconduct and incompetence.
The commissioners said allowing Mr Pakistan to say in office for one additional day would be catastrophic for the planning of 2026 Hajj operation.
Before the board’s vote of no confidence, almost all other Hajj stakeholders have written petitions against Mr Pakistan. They include non-permanent commissioners, NAHCON staff, state pilgrims boards, airlines, private tour operators, among others.
This newspaper reports that there were also avalanche of unfavorable reports on 2025 Hajj by Mr Pakistan from the the ICPC, EFCC, DSS, NFIU, ONSA, NIA, DMI, DIA, OAGF, and several diplomatic complaints on the entire operation, as well as his reported investigation by Saudi Nazaha, and Ri’āsat Al-Istikhbārāt Al-‘Āmah, among others.
