Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Saleh, has said there is no split in the commission.
He stated this while responding to Daily Trust story on the crisis rocking the commission.
This newspaper had reported how aggrieved board members, who also double as commissioners, petitioned Vice-President Kashim Shettima, accusing the chairman of gross misconduct, violation of procurement regulations and exclusion from activities at the commission”.
It was learnt that the aggrieved board members, who also double as commissioners, had written a petition to Vice President Kashim Shettima, accusing the chairman of gross misconduct, violation of procurement regulations and exclusion from activities at the commission.
The petition, sighted by Daily Trust, came just a few weeks after NAHCON’s staff union alleged poor welfare; an allegation the commission debunked.
The petition to the vice president was signed by the board members representing the six geo-political zones and two others representing the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI).
The Vice President’s Office could not be immediately reached to confirm receipt of the petition as Shettima’s spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, neither answered several phone calls nor replied to messages sent to his mobile telephone line by Daily Trust.
But two of the petitioners confirmed to Daily Trust that the petition was received by the Office of the Vice President.
The signatories are: Professor Muhammad Umaru Ndagi (North-Central), Alhaji Abba K. Jato (North-East), Shaykh Muhammad Bn Uthman (North-West), Hajiya Aishat Obi (South-East), Hajiya Zainab Musa (South-South), Dr Tajudeen Abefe Oladejo (South-West), Professor Adedimeji Mahfouz Adebola (NSCIA) and Professor Musa Inuwa Fodio (JNI).
However, the commission said that all its activities are being carried out according to rules guiding its operations and that no one is being sidelined as alleged.
Professor Usman was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in August 2024, succeeding Jalal Ahmad Arabi.
In his response, the Chairman said the story was intended to cause confusion and to tarnish his hard-earned image as an Islamic scholar and a proven administrator.
He stated the core mandate of the stakeholders is to work together to ensure that the commission delivers.
He said, “NAHCON has 19 board members. Four of whom are permanent and are responsible for running the daily office routines of the Commission. The four are the Chairman and Commissioners PPMF, Operations and PRSILS. All the other 15 are part time members with advisory roles.
“They are not responsible for overseeing daily office procedures or procurements. As board members they are required to hold a meeting on a quarterly basis to review actions taken by the Commission during that period and to take decisions etc.
“Board members also form part of committees based on their specialties such as the establishment committee that oversees staff promotions and other matters, financial and general-purpose committees that have members representing the financial sector as members.
“Some committees are operational based such as the Aviation screening committee that selects air carriers, Medical committee, central security committee that all do their jobs periodically and have a combination of board members and staff in them.”
Abdullahi Sale added that on procurement there is the tenders’ board that takes decisions on procurement and other financial matters above the chairman’s threshold.
He added, “the board comprises the three permanent board members and the chairman as demanded by the government. Procurement matters are not part of the board’s responsibilities.
“However, they are involved in planning the commission’s budget. But daily office running procurement issues within the chairman’s approval limit do not go through the board.”
According to him, members of the commission are selected rotationally to join the team on offshore assignments that are fieldworks carried out by staff.
He stated, “On the issue of pre hajj visits, it has been the tradition of the House that board members are selected to join the team on offshore assignments that are fieldworks carried out by staff. The members are included on rotational basis.
“Staff form bulk of the team because they are the technocrats conducting the operations while board members are represented in the team as part of the decision-making body.
“During the 1st pre-hajj trip, board members representing northeast and southeast were among the team and were among those that held discussions on selection of service providers, they were among those that visited several service providers in the kingdom. In the 2nd pre hajj trip, board members from southwest and northwest participated.
“Hajj fare is arrived at after negotiations by and submissions of several committees. And board members are part of some of these committees. After each committee negotiates and arrives at a price, the total hajj fare is presented to board members before it is announced to the public. The board does not sit down to cut out the hajj fare unilaterally but hajj fare is discussed with them.
“Board members don’t select Tour Operators there is a department under Operations that is saddled with that responsibility
“Bottom line, each member is involved in different activities according to their schedule. but cannot form part of all the daily activities of the Commission: they are part of policy decision making matters and not daily activities.”
Source: Daily Trust
