A former Grand Khadi of Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Idris Haroon, yesterday urged the federal government to thoroughly investigate the alleged mismanagement of funds by officials of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) during the 2024 Hajj operation.
Haroon noted that, though the matter was still under scrutiny, officials found culpable in the scandal should not be spared due to the magnitude of the issue.
The retired jurist made the call while featuring on a radio live interview programme in Ilorin, the state capital.
He expressed outrage that, as a guest of the king of Saudi Arabia during the just concluded Hajj operation, some pilgrims confided in him that they were paid $200 instead of $500 as travelling allowances.
“This matter is yet to be decided, but I want it to be thoroughly investigated, and whoever is found to be part of this dishonesty that caused suffering to our pilgrims should not be spared.
“I was in Makkah during the last pilgrimage as a guest of King Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and some pilgrims confessed to me that many of them were only given $200 instead of $500, and when they got to Saudi, they were only given the equivalent of $200 in Riyal. That was how they took money from pilgrims.
“It is embarrassing that people who travelled to serve God will be the ones to violate God’s law. You must be just and transparent”, he said.
Haroon urged the new NAHCON Chairman, Prof. Abdullahi Sale Uthman, “to return sanity to the commission and know that he is representing the entire Muslim community with successes of the job preoccupying his mind rather than pecuniary gain.”