NAHCON Secretary, Mustapha Muhammad Ali
By Abdullahi Abubakar
More facts have emerged on why the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission grilled the Secretary of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Dr Mustapha Muhammad Ali.
NATIONAL WAVES reliable gathered that the Hajj commission secretary was grilled by a crack team of anti-graft operatives at the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Siurces at the anti-graft agency squealed that they are on the final lap of their investigations on NAHCON.
Dr Ali was appointed as NAHCON secretary on February 28, 2025.
NAHCON is being investigated over many alleged infractions that include procurement fraud amounting to billions, administrative high-handedness, and falsification of official documents, among others.
Mr Ali succeeded Dr Abdullahi Kontgaora, who was detained by the EFCC on August 15, 2024, over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion Hajj subsidy provided by President Bola Tinubu for the 2024 Hajj pilgrims.
Dr Kontagora, who resigned in December 2024, was detained alongside the former NAHCON Chairman, Jalal Ahmad Arabi.
EFCC has recently launched a large-scale investigation into the Hajj commission activities, where it detained and grilled many officers in the course of the probe so far.
After his appointment in February this year, Dr Ali came to the limelight when he signed an official letter appointing a Saudi Arabian company, Ekram Deif, as the sole service provider for Nigerian pilgrims in the 2026 Hajj.
The official document titled, “Extract from the 24th EXCO meeting (offshore) of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), held on June 14, 2025, at 4.00 pm at Ummul Jood Makkah.”
This development created controversy inside the Hajj commission, with the NAHCON Commissioner of Operations, Anofiu O. Elegushi, rejecting the unilateral decision.
In a letter dated June 19, 2025 and addressed to the secretary, Mr Elegushi accused the NAHCON Chairman/CEO, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan of “conflict of interest, lack of transparency, and insufficient stakeholder participation” in arriving at the service provider’s selection.
Mr Elegushi also accused Professor Pakistan of deliberately excluding him from the meeting while he was in Jeddah, coordinating pilgrims’ dispatch to Nigeria.
Vice President Kashim Shettima subsequently cancelled the selection, saying all contracts above N100 million with foreign firms must be vetted by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Insiders at the EFCC said the NAHCON secretary is providing valuable information to the operatives in uncovering the alleged squandering of N25 billion on Masha’ir extra space, N1.6 billion on NAHCON staff spouses, and the N8 billion on Makkah contingency bed spaces.
Other issues being investigated by the EFCC include the alleged 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, causing huge financial losses to the country.
