OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have grilled Dr Mustapha Muhammad Ali, the Secretary of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), on Tuesday over alleged fraud.
This newspaper confirmed the development from EFCC officials, who are conversant with the case, but have no authorisation to share the details with the press
They said a team of anti-fraud investigators at the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja had grilled the NAHCON secretary.
The secretary, according to the anti-graft sources, was at the EFCC throughout Tuesday afternoon facing the investigators.
He was released on bail around 6pm on Tuesday. He would return tomorrow, Wednesday, it was further learnt.
NAHCON is being investigated for alleged procurement fraud amounting to billions, as well as administrative high-handedness that includes the alleged falsification of official documents, to mention a few.
The immediate past secretary of NAHCON, Dr Abdullahi Rabiu Kontgaora, was also detained by the EFCC on August 15, 2024, over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion Hajj subsidy granted by President Bola Tinubu for the 2024 Hajj.
Dr Kontagora, who was detained alongside the former NAHCON Chairman, Jalal Ahmad Arabi, was granted administrative bail. He resigned in December 2024 from the Hajj commission.
The anti-graft agency has recently launched a large-scale investigation into the NAHCON financial dealings detaining and grilling a dozen officials recovering a huge amount of public funds in the process.
Dr Ali came to the limelight a few months after his appointment when he signed an official letter purportedly appointing a controversial Saudi company, Ekram Deif, as the sole service provider for Nigerian pilgrims in the 2026 Hajj.
Titled, “Extract from the 24th EXCO meeting (offshore) of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), held on June 14, 2025, at 4.00 pm at Ummul Jood Makkah.”
The selection of Ekram Deif as the sole service provider for Nigerian pilgrims in the 2026 Hajj created ripples inside NAHCON, as its Commissioner of Operations, Mr Anofiu O. Elegushi, rejected the decision.
Mr Elegushi, in a letter dated June 19, 2025 and addressed to the NAHCON secretary, accused the Chairman/CEO Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan of “conflict of interest, lack of transparency, and insufficient stakeholder participation” in arriving at Ekram Deif’s selection.
Mr Elegushi accused Mr Usman of deliberately excluding him from the meeting while he was in Jeddah, dispatching pilgrims back to Nigeria.
The Commissioner of Operations’ letter was copied to the President’s office, Vice President’s office, NAHCON Chairman/CEO, Commissioner of PPMF, Commissioner PRSILS, Board Members, and Forum of State Chief Executives.
Sources at the anti-graft commission said the secretary is fully cooperating with its detectives and providing valuable insights into the alleged squandering of N25 billion on Masha’ir extra space, N1.6 billion on staff spouses, and N8 billion on Makkah contingency bed spaces for non-existing pilgrims, among others.
Other alleged infractions under investigation include extra budgetary spending of over 300 percent of his approved budget, N25 billion on officials, staff, and board members, N1.4 billion as allowances of committees, and mismanagement of Madinah bed spaces from 11,000 to 18,000 for 41,000 pilgrims, causing billion naira loss to Nigeria.
The EFCC sources said that they are finalizing their investigations in NAHCON and the outcome would be earthshaking for the country.