Nigerian Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has sent a strong warning to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Saleh-Usman, saying he should stop running affairs of Nigerian pilgrims as though he were a Sole Administrator.
The vice president issued this warning in an official communication sent to the NAHCON chairman over the allegations of violation of procurement process, gross misconduct, sidelining of the commission board members, illegal appointment of aides, among others.
Shettima’s warning was contained in a letter dated March 17, 2025, with reference number SH/OVP/DCOS/NAHCON, and titled ‘Re-Deliberate Exclusion from the Exercise of Oversight Functions.’
Shettima condemned Usman’s method of appointing committees to make decisions on behalf of the board, which he claimed violated the commission’s act.
“The act does not envisage a sole administrator role and each member has a responsibility to the zone or entity he or she represents, especially with regards all decisions relating to pilgrims’ welfare,” Shettima wrote.
The Vice President also noted that the board members had raised these concerns during a meeting on February 4, 2025, in which Usman reportedly acknowledged the lapses but failed to address them.
“Their letter states that they raised these issues at a meeting where the chairman acknowledged and apologised for the lapses but apparently did nothing to address them going forward,” he stated.
In the letter, Shettima reminded Usman of the provisions of the NAHCON Act, highlighting that all reference to the powers and regulatory responsibilities of the commission referred to the commission as a whole, not just the chairman.
He further warned Usman to ensure that board members were treated according to the act to avoid rendering them redundant.
“All major decisions of the commission must be in compliance with the law,” Shettima added.
Shettima’s warning is coming days after the NAHCON board members’ petition to his office over an alleged gross misconduct being perpetrated by Mr Usman.
The six-page petition, dated March 13, 2025 and titled, “Deliberate exclusion from the oversight functions,” was signed by the eight NAHCON non-permanent commissioners representing six geo-political zones and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, and Jama’atul Nasril Islam, JNI.
They accused the Professor of excluding them from their statutory oversight responsibilities in the commission.
The signatories to the petition are Professor Muhammad Umaru Ndagi (North-central), Alhaji Abba K. Jato (Northeast), Shaykh Muhammad Bn Uthman (Northwest), Hajiya Aishat Obi (Southeast), Zainab Musa (South-south), Dr Tajudeen Abefe Oladejo (Southwest), Professor Adedimeji Mahfouz Adebola (NSCIA), and Professor Musa Inuwa Fodio (JNI).
Earlier, the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria has accused NAHCON of alleged favoritism and unjust placement of pool officers over the commission workers.
The workers 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.
Meanwhile, in another letter titled, “Re: Request for Special Waiver to Appoint 3 Retired Officers on Contract,” signed by Hadejia and addressed to NAHCON chairman, Shettima strongly warned Mr Usman from rehiring former or external staff members.
The letter said: “His Excellency the Vice President has expressed a strong objection to rehiring former staff of the commission on contract basis or engaging external civil servants to the detriment of your staff that are assigned the roles and responsibilities they are employed to perform.”
The vice president said, “Doing so will engender redundancy and create unnecessary discord and rancour within NAHCOM’s ranks.”
Shettima said the NAHCON chairman was, “therefore advised to reverse any such engagements and instruct your Human Resources unit do a proper mandate and capability assessment of your workforce so you can reassign roles and responsibilities or build up capacities where necessary.”
The office of the vice president also warned the NAHCON chairman of breaching State House protocols in submitting official communications to the vice president.
The letter said, “I refer to your letter ref: NAHCON/ Al/17/XI/645, dated 11th February 2025, but received in my office on 17th of March due to a breach in the OVP correspondence protocol.
“Hand carrying official correspondence and passing, same to individual personnel is a flagrant breach of State House external mail protocol and will not be tolerated.”
In their reactions, some staff members of the commission praised Shettima for calling the NAHCON chairman to order.
They also condemned Usman’s “clandestine way of seeking approval to rehire the former staff despite assuring them during a meeting that he had shelved the idea.”
“We are happy with Vice President Shettima’s intervention. It is long overdue. We are at the same time unhappy with Professor Usman’s backdoor approach to rehire retired staff and those from outside. This is absolute betrayal of trust,” one of the officials said anonymously for fear of a backlash.
However, other officials who spoke to this newspaper said Professor Usman is beyond redemption, “because he has created a toxic working environment in the commission and the Hajj industry that his sack is the only solution to the problems he created.”
They officials who spoke anonymously for fear of a backlash said, “Aside incapacity issue, the chairman has fought with the staff, board members, executive secretaries of state pilgrim boards, airlines, tour operators and Saudi service providers. He is irredeemable. The vice president who should sack him before he plunges the 2025 hajj operations into an unprecedented catastrophe.”
They said the NAHCON chairman has surrendered the running of the commission to his family members — his son Aliyu (personal assistant), brother Surajo (special adviser), nephew Abdulmalik Diggi (special adviser and deputy director accounts), as well as protective detail Abubakar.
The officials urged the SSS director general to toe Shettima’s line “by redeploying Abubakar from the commission because he has abandoned his protective role by interfering into day-to-day operations of the commission”.
