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The Nigerian government may have walked straight into a financial blackhole as fresh documents and sources reveal that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) could lose over N25.14 billion during the 2025 Hajj exercise.
SaharaReporters learned that this was due to negligence, inflated contracts, and questionable dealings involving bed spaces and service providers in Saudi Arabia.
14,000 Bed Spaces Paid for but Unused
A detailed examination of official documents and press statements issued by NAHCON indicates that 14,179 bed spaces in Mina, a critical stop during the Hajj pilgrimage, were paid for but left unused.
Of the 52,544 bed spaces reportedly secured for pilgrims under state quotas, only 41,568 were used. Tour operators also utilised just 13,217 out of 16,263 spaces, leaving a total of 2,046 unutilised spaces.
By Saudi regulations, these should have been cancelled and refunded on or before 16 Dhul Qadah (May 14, 2025).
But multiple sources within the commission confirmed that Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman, NAHCON Chairman/CEO, failed to apply for refunds, despite persistent reminders.
“Despite frequent reminders on this issue, the NAHCON Chairman deliberately allowed the deadline to lapse due to negligence, absence of technical know-how, lack of capacity, coupled with the fact that all official communications have to be translated to him in Hausa,” one top official alleged.
Over N24.6 Billion in Bed Space Loss Alone
The financial impact of this negligence is staggering. Official exchange rate documents seen by this newspaper peg the potential loss at 57,424,950 Saudi Riyal, equivalent to N24,692,700,000, based on the 1 Riyal = N430 rate. Each bed space costs 4,050 Riyal as outlined in the 2025 Hajj fare template.
SaharaReporters also learned that NAHCON is set to forfeit another N452,175,780, the naira equivalent of 1,049,246 Riyals, in other deposits, including medical services (6 Riyals per pilgrim), car syndicate (18 Riyals), and Ministry of Hajj and Umrah deposits (50 Riyals).
Official NAHCON press statements corroborate these figures. On February 20, 2025, spokesperson Fatima Sanda Usara declared the commission had “secured 52,544 bed spaces for state quota pilgrims” and “reserved 16,263 spaces for Tour Operators.”
This was reaffirmed four days later during a courtesy visit by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum.
But just before departing for Saudi Arabia on May 28, 2025, Mr Usman himself told reporters that only 41,568 pilgrims had been airlifted. Subsequent NAHCON data from June 2 and July 2 showed similar inconsistencies, confirming that thousands of bed spaces went unused.
In a press release dated June 2, 2025, NAHCON, through its spokesperson Mrs. Usara, stated that at the time visa approvals were halted, 13,217 visas had been issued to Tour Operator Companies out of the 14,158 registered pilgrims, despite having reserved 16,263 bed spaces.
Subsequently, on July 2, 2025, official figures from NAHCON’s Command and Control Centre showed that a total of 41,202 pilgrims under the state quota had been airlifted back to Nigeria after performing the Hajj.
Even more troubling are revelations about alleged underhanded dealings in the Masha’ir contracts, covering Mina, Arafat, and Muzdalifah.
Initially awarded 100 percent to Mashariq Dhahabiah, the contract was later split between Mashariq (26,287 pilgrims) and Ekram Deif (26,357 pilgrims), in what insiders say were contractual breaches driven by political and financial interests.
NAHCON had initially awarded Mashariq the whole contract but unilaterally reduced it to 35,000, and eventually to 26,287, after what sources describe as “politically influenced boardroom manoeuvres.”
A ceremony was even held on February 22, 2025, with Saudi providers in attendance at NAHCON’s Abuja office.
Despite being shortchanged, Mashariq reportedly went ahead and fully executed their contract, ensuring 100 percent NUSUK compliance, adding urinals and accessible services. Their officials remained active and visible throughout the Hajj period.
By contrast, Ekram Deif, allegedly the NAHCON chairman’s preferred contractor, served only 20,000 of the 26,357 allocated pilgrims, with poor hygiene, used mattresses, and only 80 percent NUSUK compliance.
At an Ekram Deif-sponsored dinner, it was Mr Usman himself who lavished praise on the firm, while state officials remained conspicuously silent. During Mashariq’s event, it was state officials who highlighted the high standard of service.
In a separate scandal, documents uncovered show that the NAHCON chairman attempted to impose caterers on Masha’ir service providers, an outright breach of contract.
A February 4, 2025, letter shows Mr Usman introduced Zain Al-Abdin Investment Group, a firm not pre-qualified by NAHCON, to provide feeding services.
Further investigation reveals that Zain Group intended to sublease the contract to five other unapproved firms, which Masha’ir providers resisted, citing irregularities and breaches of protocol.
Another eyebrow-raising move was the appointment of a Saudi company, Ali Afifi Establishment, as NAHCON’s “agent” to Ekram Deif, an unprecedented action insiders claim was for kickback collection.
“The agent is actually to coordinate the collection of kickbacks for the top officials of the commission. That is the only reason for his appointment,” one NAHCON official alleged.
Another added: “If not to coordinate kickbacks collection, why didn’t NAHCON appoint one of its staff members? Why is it that NAHCON didn’t appoint an agent for Mashariq Al-Dhahabiah?”
The situation is so alarming that a senior NAHCON official has called on anti-corruption agencies to step in.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should thoroughly investigate the intentional circumstances leading to this possible huge loss and where the funds are,” the official urged.
Sole Contractor for 2026 Hajj Appointed
Amid the turmoil, it was gathered that Professor Usman appointed Ekram Deif as the sole service provider for the 2026 Hajj, even though the 2025 assessment report had not been submitted and no approval had come from Saudi authorities.
The decision was made at an offshore NAHCON EXCO meeting held in Makkah on June 14, 2025, without the input of state pilgrim boards, tour operators, board members, or senior management.
This was disclosed in a memo signed by NAHCON secretary Dr Mustapha Muhammad Ali, 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 sparked immediate backlash.
NAHCON’s Commissioner of Operations, Anofiu O. Elegushi, in a letter dated June 19, 2025, accused Professor Usman of conflict of interest, lack of transparency, and exclusion of key stakeholders. The letter was copied to the Presidency, the vice president’s office, and other senior officials.
Presidency sources informed this newspaper that the President’s office had received the petition submitted by the Commissioner of Operations and subsequently directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to carry out discreet investigations into the matter.
In a related development, the Vice President’s Office, acting preemptively, rejected Professor Usman’s nomination of Ekram Deif as the sole service provider for Nigerian pilgrims during the 2026 Hajj. Reliable sources revealed that the Vice President responded by issuing a counter-circular instructing all federal agencies under his supervision to route contractual agreements exceeding N100 million through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation for proper vetting.
Official documents show that the Vice President’s Office issued the circular just one day after receiving a letter from Mr. Elegushi. The letter, dated June 20, 2025, was signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, and referenced SH/OVP/DCOS/.
It was titled: “Vetting of Contractual Agreements by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.”
The letter was addressed to NAHCON Chairman, Professor Usman, along with four other heads of agencies under the supervision of the Vice President’s office.
NAHCON, it was reliably gathered, has been one of the primary offenders in bypassing proper contract vetting procedures. This was confirmed by Ameen Amshi, Special Assistant to the Vice President on Special Duties, who wrote in a post-Hajj 2025 article that, “The Vice President stepped in personally to help settle sensitive issues between NAHCON and some key service providers, ensuring that things didn’t fall apart when it mattered most.”
Sources at the Federal Ministry of Justice told one of our reporters that since assuming office as NAHCON Chairman, Mr. Usman has not submitted a single contractual document for legal vetting. “He relies on one lawyer—whose appointment was based more on nepotism than merit—who is misleading him,” a ministry staff member alleged.
There was no immediate response from the leadership of the Forum of State Executives. However, several executive secretaries of state pilgrims’ boards, speaking off the record, expressed shock over the appointment of a sole service provider. They criticised the commission’s hasty and uncoordinated approach, noting that the decision was made without waiting for a proper post-mortem of the 2025 Hajj operations.
In the wake of mounting concerns, stakeholders have urged the EFCC to launch a thorough investigation into the N23.4 billion scandal. They are also calling for scrutiny of the failed selection of Ekram Deif, the alleged appointment of a Saudi national as NAHCON’s representative to the company, the imposition of Zain Establishment Group as caterer in Masha’ir, NAHCON’s refusal to apply for refunds, and the disbursement of funds to service providers without proper accountability.
Additionally, some stakeholders have appealed to Vice President Kashim Shettima to ignore misleading advice from aides who suggest that criticism of NAHCON’s leadership amounts to an attack on his person. They stressed that the persistent calls for transparency and accountability in the commission are not political but a religious obligation that every conscientious Nigerian Muslim must uphold.
According to one of the stakeholders, the “probe will deepen transparency and go a long way in helping to salvage the battered image of the commission”.
SaharaReporters made several attempts to contact Fatima Sanda Usara, the Assistant Director of Information and Publications at NAHCON, for a response to the allegations, but she did not answer repeated phone calls or reply to a follow-up message.
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