Jalal Arabi, the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, along with the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, remained in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for a third consecutive night due to their inability to meet the bail conditions.
The EFCC is investigating Arabi and Kontagora regarding the alleged mismanagement or diversion of funds from the N90bn allocated by the Federal Government for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
An undisclosed source within the EFCC informed NewsNow that Arabi and Kontagora were still detained as they had not fulfilled their bail requirements.
“Although they have been granted bail, they have not met the conditions yet. This will be their third night in custody,” the source revealed on the condition of anonymity.
NewsNow exclusively reported on Thursday that the EFCC recovered 314,098 Saudi Riyal from Arabi and other individuals during the ongoing investigation.
According to a document seen by our correspondent, the EFCC stated that a total of SR314,098 was retrieved from the NAHCON chairman and other senior officials.
The EFCC investigation revealed that Arabi unlawfully overpaid himself and other individuals using the funds allocated for the 2024 Hajj operational costs.
“The Chairman, three commissioners, the secretary, and directors received inflated payments for operational costs. The total amount of SR314,098 was recovered from them,” the EFCC disclosed.
Arabi was initially interrogated by the EFCC on July 29 and later released on bail. Furthermore, last week, officials of the Hajj commission were arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for similar allegations.
On a subsequent Wednesday, the EFCC source informed our correspondent that the NAHCON Chairman was once again detained for further questioning regarding the N90bn subsidy and other accusations.