Nigerian Hajj Commission Workers Plan Showdown Over Chairman’s Alleged Nepotism, Misconduct
The workers revealed these in the protest letter released by the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria.
Workers at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) have threatened a showdown with the leadership of the commission under Prof Abdullahi Saleh Usman over what they alleged as financial recklessness and favoritism.
The NAHCON in a circular obtained by SaharaReporters on Saturday also tackled the chairman over “unjust placement of seconded officers over the commission workers” among other infractions.
The workers revealed these in the protest letter released by the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria.
They said that if the issues are not quickly addressed urgently, they may undermine the morale of dedicated NAHCON staff and hinder the commission’s efficiency in fulfilling its mandate.
The union revealed this in a letter titled, “Urgent concerns regarding the placement of pool officers and administrative lapses”, dated March 3, 2025, and addressed to the NAHCON executive council and board members.
The letter was signed by the union’s executive officers in NAHCON namely: Auwal Haladu Ali Kazaure (Chairman), Taofeek Giwa (Vice chairman), Yusuf Abubakar Abah (Secretary), Mohammed Bala Muh’d (Treasurer), and Hauwa Shitu Suleiman (Ex-officio).
The workers’ petition came amid reports that the Chairman allegedly brought in his family members including his brother Surajo, who is one of the chairman’s special assistants.
Mr Surajo is accused of misleading the chairman and minuting on official memos, a development irking the commission staff members, state pilgrims boards and tour operators.
The chairman also reportedly appointed his biological son Aliyu as his personal assistant. There is also the case of Abdulmalik Diggi, the chairman’s nephew, who was allegedly brought by the chairman as SA and deployed to the department of account as a deputy director.
Findings further showed that another challenge facing the commission is how one state in the Northeast cornered all the critical leadership positions in NAHCON.
Borno State, where Vice President Kashim Shettima hails from, is currently in charge of most of the strategic positions in the commission — in glaring disregard to federal character principles, an insider said.
The workers also raised the cases of civil servants who retired from their parent organisations but only to be posted to NAHCON.
Another alleged impunity is the case of Mr Usman Mamza, from Borno State, who served as legal adviser in NAHCON two years after he retired from the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The Director of Admin, who hails from the same state as Mamza is allegedly blocking the investigation of the case.
Mr Mamza is not serving in NAHCON as a contract staff. The only reason why he is still in the commission is because he is a “classmate” to the vice president, it was alleged.
Nigerian Hajj Commission Workers Plan Showdown Over Chairman’s Alleged Nepotism, Misconduct
The commission’s Director of Protocol Bulama is reportedly still at NAHCON even though he has retired from the federal service in April 2024.
Insiders said there are plans to recall a staff identified as Tawfiq Tayo Akinwale, who contested the governorship election in Oyo State under the Labour Party (LP) in 2023.
Mr Akinwale contested the elections and lost while still staff at NAHCON in violation of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Public Service Rules. The Zikirullah Kunle Hassan-led leadership had to sack him after mounting pressure from the commission workers.
It was learnt that a former minister from the Southwest had given a note to the incumbent NAHCON leadership to facilitate Mr Akinwale’s return to the commission.
Nigerian Hajj Commission Workers Plan Showdown Over Chairman’s Alleged Nepotism, Misconduct
The workers are also alarmed that the commission chairman is trying to deploy the majority of the staff to the office of the Head of Service of the Federation for posting over alleged redundancy, but he is at the same time appointing personal aides and deploying them to many critical departments.
Insiders claimed that the chairman has already penciled down the names of 70 staff to be sent to the head of service for posting.
There is no criteria for the selection of the workers, insiders said. The workers vowed a serious showdown with the commission leadership over what they described as illegal redeployment.
The union’s executives were reportedly arrested at the instance of member of the NAHCON board representing the NIA. The union leaders, it was learnt, were arrested from the commission’s headquarters in Abuja by a unit of armed squad who stormed the headquarters.
“This is new to us. The NAHCON Act doesn’t make provision for membership of the security agency on its board. This is another flagrant violation of the commission law,” a senior staff said.
Another development that drew the ire of the commission’s workers is the alleged plans by Professor Usman-led leadership to spend N640million to sponsor 50 staff to “travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah monitoring.”
In their petition, the union said, “Pool officers who have been placed in strategic positions ahead of NAHCON staff should be withdrawn to ensure fairness and recognition of institutional experience.”
The union also said, “Pool officers should also not be allowed to participate in the pre-hajj visit or the 2025 hajj operations at the expense of NAHCON staff.”
Veteran federal civil servants said populating the commission with seconded staff would degrade the institutional memory of the Hajj organisation.
“NAHCON staff should be trained to rise from bottom to top, to preserve the institutional memory of the commission. But when you adopt a revolving door policy — where staff are deployed and redeployed after some years – the founding father’s idea of establishing the Hajj commission is defeated,” a senior staff noted.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Fatima Sanda Usara, on Friday, the commission confirmed that the union had submitted a petition over unjust postings, favouritism and administrative lapses, saying that the issues raised by the union are being addressed by the leadership of the commission.
“Management was not perturbed when it received a letter from the Union’s EXCO agitating for NAHCON staff elevation and welfare over those of other pool officers; demands that are being addressed,” Mrs Usara said.
Despite glaring evidences, the commission said, “Regarding allegations of nepotism, we in the Commission categorically state that appointments and assignments within NAHCON are guided strictly by due process. Specifically, the claim that Professor Abdullahi Saleh has appointed his son as a Personal Assistant within the Commission is false. Additionally, claims of retirees as existent on NAHCON’s official staff list suggest either deliberate misinformation or a misunderstanding of the Commission’s structure.”
