Operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have raided the headquarters of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in Abuja over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion interventions for the 2024 hajj.
According to a source, the anti-graft operatives who stormed the hajj house shut down official activities in some strategic offices, including the office of the chief executive officer, finance and procurement departments.
The source who preferred to be anonymous said the sting operation, which lasted several hours has further brought the commission under public scrutiny on the appropriation of N90 billion subsidy granted for this year’s hajj.
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Apparently not satisfied with the available records, the anti-graft agency went away with the commission’s director of procurement for further investigation, our source said.
When contacted, ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, confirmed the visit of operatives of the agency to the Hajj house but said it was on routine investigation.
Although Bakare was silent over the nature of the investigation, he hinted that the raid was necessitated by the refusal of some officials of the commission to honor ICPC’s invitation.
Responding to an enquiry, Bakare said: “Yes, we are investigating the National Hajj Commission. 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,” Bakare clarified.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had grilled the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of (NAHCON), Mal. Jalal Ahmad Arabi, over the management of the controversial N90 billion hajj subsidy.
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The investigation followed series of petitions filed against NAHCON essentially on alleged poor management of services during the 2024 exercise and the utility of Federal Government intervention, the anti-graft agency said.
Nevertheless, NAHCON had clarified the doubt on the allegations and further provided record on how the federal government intervention was allocated in the last exercise.
Addressing a world press conference in Abuja, Arabi said the commission had paid over N1.6 million each to over 50,000 pilgrims and officials to subsidise the high cost of services occasioned by variation on naira to American dollar exchange rate.
The Nation