There is palpable tension at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) over an alleged plot by certain commissioners within the commission and a Permanent Secretary in the Presidency.

According to Sunday Tribune findings, a memo from the Presidency granting the team led by the current chairman of NAHCON, Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammad, extension of tenure is the cause of the crisis rocking the Hajj regulatory body.

Investigations revealed that the forces playing the ethnic card are bent on excluding some of the commissioners from the southern part of the country from benefitting from the extension granted by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

But forces pushing for a fresh term for the NAHCON chairman are misleading the Presidency to believe that he has just spent one term.

A memo from the office of the SGF, dated March 26, 2019, requested that the president approves six months tenure extension for all members of the board.

The memo reads in part:”Upon a review of the submission of the chairman and the timing of the submission, I should observe that it will not be practicable to conclude the processes for a tenure renewal for the current team or the appointment of a new team before the expiration of their current tenure.

“Your Excellency, it is suggested that the tenure of the current chairman and members be extended by six months in acting capacity, within which period the commission must have been reconstituted, either by the current team for a second and final term or by new chairman and members.”

The source further noted that “following convincing arguments presented by the SGF, which included but not limited to the need to ensure there was no leadership vacuum and save 2019 hajj activities from any setback, the president was said to have given a blanket approval to the memo.”

But a certain Permanent Secretary in the office of the SGF, has since issued fresh appointment letters to some of the board members, while excluding others.

One of the appointment letters from the SGF office sighted by Sunday Tribune stated in clear terms that President Buhari approved the appointment for the official to be in an acting capacity and that it would be terminated once a new board is inaugurated.

A staff member at the commission who pleaded not to be named disclosed that the ethnic agenda of the forces within the commission has been subject of discussion in hushed tones in the last one week.

“Excluding some commissioners from the president’s approval of tenure extension for all members is an indication that some persons within the presidency are trying to test the resolve of the president.”

“We are perplexed to see some commissioners glued to their seats after the expiration of their tenures.

“Two of the commissioners, including the chairman have served two terms. But when we heard they were given tenure extension for six months, we were happy because even though we want some of them to go, we still love to see some of them around. But we are not happy because those we love to see in NAHCON are the ones being denied tenure extension not by the president but some dubious persons. (Sunday Tribune)

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