Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has rejected a request made by the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Prof Abdulahi Saleh to appoint three retired staff of the commission on contract.
The Vice President’s rejection was contained in a memo titled: RE: Request for Special Waiver to appoint 3 retired officers on contract.
The memo, which was sighted by HAJJ REPORTERS stated that “ His Excellency, the Vice President has expressed a strong objection to rehiring former staff of the commission on contract basis or engage external civil servants to the detriment of your staff that are assigned the roles and responsibilities they are employed to perform” saying “doing so engender redundancy and create unnecessary discord and rancor within NAHCON ranks”.
“You are therefore advised to reverse any such engagements and instruct your Human Resources unit to do a proper mandate and capability assessment of your workforce so you can reassign roles and responsibilities or build up capacities where necessary” The memo stated.
The NAHCON chapter of the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria (ASCSN) had earlier written to the Executive Council of the commission, raising concerns against the relegation of NAHCON staff and the unjust placement of pool officers in the commission.
NAHCON had in a letter dated 11th February 2025, seeks the VP’s approval to rehire 3 retired NAHCON staff to assist in the smooth conduct of the forthcoming Hajj exercise.
