Vice President Kashim Shettima has warned the Chairman and CEO of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Prof. Abdullahi Saleh Usman, cautioning him against operating the commission like a sole administrator and sidelining other board members.
This warning came through an official communication dated March 17, 2025 (Ref: SH/OVP/DCOS/NAHCON), signed by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President. The letter, titled “Re-Deliberate Exclusion from the Exercise of Oversight Functions”;, was in response to allegations from NAHCON board members regarding:
Mr. Shettima expressed concern over the chairman's decision to unilaterally form committees that take key decisions on behalf of the commission, bypassing established governance procedures.
“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 to all decisions relating to pilgrims’ welfare,”; Mr Shettima warned.
“Accordingly, His Excellency the Vice President has asked that your attention be drawn to the provisions of the NAHCON Act, especially.”;
The letter followed a petition dated March 13, 2025, submitted by eight non-permanent commissioners representing the six geopolitical zones, NSCIA, and JNI.
The commissioners stated they had been excluded from decision-making processes, including deliberations on the 2025 Hajj fare, which they only learned about through the media.
Additionally, Shettima cautioned against the rehiring of retired staff or engaging external civil servants, stating:
“His Excellency the Vice President has expressed a strong objection to rehiring former staff of the commission on a 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.”;
“Doing so will engender redundancy and create unnecessary discord and rancour within NAHCOM’s ranks.”;
He advised Prof. Usman to reverse such actions and conduct a proper assessment of NAHCON's workforce capabilities.
Another part of the letter addressed protocol violations in submitting official communications to the vice president’s office.
“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.”;
NAHCON staff members reportedly praised Shettima’s intervention, describing it as timely. One official said:
“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.”;
Others claimed Prof. Usman had lost credibility due to poor staff relations and conflicts with stakeholders across the Hajj sector.
“Aside the 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 should sack him before he plunges the 2025 Hajj operations into an unprecedented catastrophe,”; an official told Daily Nigerian.
Sources also alleged that Prof. Usman had placed family members in key commission roles, including his son Aliyu (PA), brother Surajo (special adviser), nephew Abdulmalik Diggi (special adviser and deputy director accounts), and security detail Abubakar, who allegedly interferes with operations.
The officials urged the Director-General of the SSS to redeploy Abubakar from NAHCON due to his growing influence beyond his protective duties.
