Two senior officials of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria have been released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after refunding funds allegedly misappropriated during the 2025 Hajj exercise.
According to The PUNCH, the officials, who were among eight arrested over the alleged mismanagement of funds, reportedly regained their freedom after making full refunds. However, six others remain in EFCC custody as investigations continue.
A senior source within the commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the development on Wednesday.
“Two NAHCON staff earlier detained have been released.
They refunded the money that went missing under their care. But six others are still being held because they are yet to do the same. Until they refund the funds, they won’t be released. The investigation is still ongoing,” the source revealed.
Efforts to obtain an official comment from EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, were unsuccessful as calls to his line were not answered, and text messages sent to him had not been replied to at press time.
The latest arrests come barely a year after a similar scandal rocked the commission.
In August 2024, EFCC detained then-chairman of NAHCON, Jalal Arabi, alongside the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, over alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion Hajj subsidy. The agency disclosed at the time that it recovered 314,098 Saudi Riyals from senior officials.
President Bola Tinubu later removed Arabi from office less than a year into his tenure amid the corruption probe.