A COMPREHENSIVE REJOINDER TO THE PURPORTED “VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE” AGAINST THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL HAJJ COMMISSION OF NIGERIA (NAHCON)
BY ALAMANAH GLOBAL ISLAMIC FOUNDATION A CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION AGAINST INJUSTICE ACCOUNTABILITY, AND PILGRIMS’ AWARENESS .
PREAMBLE
We issue this rejoinder in the interest of truth, institutional integrity, and the protection of Nigerian pilgrims, following the circulation of a petition and media reports alleging grave misconduct against the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman.
While we acknowledge the right of lawful oversight, we are deeply concerned that the current campaign against the Chairman is neither rooted in due process nor motivated by pilgrims’ welfare, but rather represents a coordinated backlash against reform and refusal to institutionalise entrenched corrupt practices in Hajj operations.
Nigeria, the Presidency, and the international community deserve a clear understanding of the real issues at stake.
1. ON THE MOTIVE BEHIND THE PETITION: RESISTANCE TO REFORM, NOT ACCOUNTABILITY
Our independent review reveals that the crisis within NAHCON did not begin with financial mismanagement, but with the Chairman’s refusal to compromise his office by approving customary but unlawful percentage kickbacks demanded by entrenched interests in:
Hajj feeding contracts
Transportation arrangements
Accommodation and Mashā‘ir (Mina/Arafat/Muzdalifah) services
These percentages, historically extracted by shadow parties and informal power blocs, are routinely deducted upstream, with the real burden transferred to Nigerian pilgrims through:
Reduced service quality
Overcrowded accommodation
Inferior feeding
Operational failures blamed on “logistics”
The Chairman’s insistence on cost transparency, direct contracting, and full-value service delivery disrupted this illicit ecosystem. The present petition must therefore be understood as retaliatory, not corrective.
2. ON THE ALLEGED “VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE”: ILLEGAL, NULL, AND OF NO EFFECT
Under the NAHCON Act, Board members:
Have no statutory authority to pass or communicate a vote of no confidence on the Chairman.
Are limited to advisory and oversight roles, not executive removal or public indictment.
Any such vote:
Is unknown to law
Is procedurally void
Constitutes administrative recklessness
The attempt to pressure the President through media trials rather than lawful channels is a dangerous precedent and an abuse of public trust.
3. ON FINANCIAL ALLEGATIONS: CLAIMS WITHOUT LEGAL PARTICULARS
We note with concern that the allegations circulated are headline-heavy but evidence-light.
No petition has presented:
Specific contract numbers
Procurement committee resolutions
Audit queries
BPP formal breach notices
Forensic audit outcomes
In law and governance:
Allegations without particulars are not accountability; they are insinuation.
It must also be stated clearly:
Financial controls at NAHCON are multi-layered, requiring endorsements from:
Commissioner, Policy, Personnel, Management & Finance (PPMF)
Accounts Department
Internal Audit
No single individual can unilaterally expend funds outside this framework.
Any expenditure approved passed through collective institutional processes, many of which involved the same Commissioners now claiming outrage.
4. ON EFCC REFERENCES: MISREPRESENTATION AND SELECTIVE MORALITY
We caution against the weaponisation of anti-corruption institutions for internal power struggles.
Facts on record show:
Several cases cited were inherited, predating the current Chairman.
Some Commissioners currently championing “probity” are subjects of ongoing or unresolved EFCC matters, either directly or by inheritance.
It is a fundamental principle of ethics that:
One cannot sit as prosecutor, judge, and moral authority while under unresolved investigation.
Oversight credibility requires clean hands.
5. ON OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES DURING 2025 HAJJ: SYSTEMIC, NOT PERSONAL
Hajj operations are multi-national, multi-agency, and technologically complex, involving Saudi regulatory reforms (e.g. Nusuk platform changes), airline capacity constraints, and exchange-rate volatility.
To attribute every operational challenge to a single individual, while ignoring:
Institutional inertia
Sabotage
Non-cooperation from internal actors
Legacy contractual liabilities
is intellectually dishonest and administratively unfair.
6. ON INTERNAL SABOTAGE AND INSUBORDINATION
Our findings point to a troubling pattern of conduct by certain Board members, including:
Unauthorized issuance of official correspondence
Direct engagement with external actors without executive clearance
Public briefing against the Commission
Attempts to usurp executive authority
These acts amount to:
Gross insubordination
Institutional sabotage
Violation of civil service and governance norms
No organisation can function when internal actors actively undermine leadership while demanding stability.
7. THE REAL LOSERS: NIGERIAN PILGRIMS
At the heart of this conflict is a simple truth:
When corrupt percentages are removed, pilgrims benefit.
When reform blocks rent-seeking, vested interests revolt.
This campaign risks:
Distracting from 2026 Hajj preparations
Undermining Nigeria–Saudi institutional trust
Re-entrenching exploitative practices that impoverish pilgrims
8. OUR POSITION AND DEMANDS
In the national interest, we call for:
An independent, holistic forensic audit of NAHCON covering multiple administrations, not a selective witch-hunt.
Disciplinary review of Board members who:
Issued unlawful votes of no confidence
Engaged in unauthorized communications
Have unresolved EFCC or related integrity issues
Protection of institutional reforms that eliminate hidden deductions and improve pilgrims’ welfare.
Stability of leadership pending lawful investigation outcomes, not media-driven verdicts.
CONCLUSION
Nigeria’s Hajj administration must not be reduced to a battleground for:
Control of contracts
Preservation of shadow benefits
Institutional capture
The President deserves facts, not factional pressure.
The public deserves truth, not spectacle.
Pilgrims deserve service, not exploitation.
Anything short of due process and holistic accountability will confirm that the objective of this petition was never reform, but retaliation for refusing to compromise public trust.
Signed:
Alamanah Global Islamic Foundation a Civil Society Organization Against Injustice Accountability and Pilgrims awareness Lagos Nigeria
Dr ST Ishola