The Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria has raised an alarm over the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON’s alleged favoritism and unjust placement of pool officers over the commission workers.
The workers said that if not addressed urgently, these problems 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.
Insiders say this is the first time in the history of the commission and Hajj industry in the country that staff are officially groaning under alleged misconduct and irregularities by the commission’s leadership.
The letter obtained by this newspaper was signed by the union’s executive officers in NAHCON.
Part of the union’s letter reads: “It has come to our notice that pool officers recently posted to NAHCON have been placed in critical leadership positions ahead of seasoned NAHCON staff, who have dedicated years of service to the Hajj industry.
“A recent instance is the replacement of the Head of Policy and Research, a NAHCON staff, with an officer from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), despite the absence of a vacancy. To address this anomaly, the union has urged the executive council and board members to immediately withdraw all pool officers in major divisions.
The union said, “Pool officers who have been placed in strategic positions ahead of NAHCON staff should be withdrawn to ensure fairness and recognition of institutional experience.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the workers’ petition is coming weeks after the media had reported the NAHCON chairman’s alleged nepotism after appointing his son as his personal assistant.
There is also the case of Abdulmalik Diggi, the chairman’s nephew, who was brought by the chairman as SA and deployed to the department of account as a deputy director.
Mr Diggi is being accused of circumventing financial regulations – in cahoots with some aides of the chairman— to approve funds without due process
Findings by this newspaper have shown that another challenge facing the commission is how one state in the Northeast cornered all the critical leadership positions in NAHCON.
Borno state currently corners most of the juicy positions in the commission — in glaring disregard to federal character principles, an insider said.
Five critical positions are all occupied by Borno state indigenes namely — the secretary to the commission, the Director of Admin and Human Resources, the Deputy Director of Audit, the Director of Protocol, the Deputy Director of Procurement, and a Board member representing Northeast.
The workers also raised the cases of civil servants who retired from their parent organizations but only to be posted to NAHCON.
Another alleged impunity is the case of 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.
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.
Insiders told this newspaper that the chairman has already penciled down the names of 70 staff to be sent to the head of service for redeployment.
“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 source added.
When contacted for comment, NAHCON’s spokesperson, Fatima Sanda-Usara, did not respond to our reporter’s SMS and telephone calls.
