Open Letter To President Bola Tinubu On Returning NAHCON To The Coordinating Authority of the SGF
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
State House, Abuja
Your Excellency,
I write as a concerned citizen and Muslim who cares deeply about the welfare of Nigerian pilgrims and the reputation of our country. I respectfully urge you to review the current supervisory arrangement of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and return its day to day supervision to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), while keeping it firmly under the Presidency as required by law.
This request is about efficiency, productivity, accountability, and the long term stability of Hajj administration in Nigeria.
1. Brief history of Hajj management in Nigeria
1. In 1953, Alhaji Abubakar Imam moved a motion in the Northern House of Assembly for a Nigerian pilgrims office in Jeddah, to protect pilgrims who were facing hardship in Saudi Arabia.
2. Regional Pilgrims Welfare Boards emerged from 1958 in Western Region and 1965 in Northern Region as pilgrim numbers grew.
3. In 1975, the Federal Military Government created the Nigeria Pilgrims Board by Decree No. 16, vesting all aspects of Hajj management in a federal body, headed by Sheikh Mahmud Gumi.
4. In 1989, the Nigerian Pilgrims Commission replaced the Board. It was later dissolved after the 1991 Jeddah air crash that killed 247 Nigerian pilgrims and 14 crew members.
5. After that, Hajj affairs were handled by temporary structures and the Directorate of Pilgrims Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This era saw serious administrative instability, including a temporary Saudi ban on Nigerian pilgrims in 1996 because of repeated operational failures.
6. In response, the National Assembly passed the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) Establishment Act in 2006. The Act repealed the Nigerian Pilgrims Commission Act and created NAHCON as a permanent, professional body with clear statutory powers to license, regulate, and supervise all Hajj and Umrah activities.
NAHCON started operation in 2007. Since then it has coordinated state pilgrims boards, supervised airlift and accommodation, enforced Saudi regulations, and improved welfare and medical services for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
2. What the NAHCON Act actually provides
The NAHCON Act 2006 does three important things.
1. It repeals the Nigerian Pilgrims Commission Act and establishes NAHCON with clear functions to:
a. license, regulate and supervise all organisations that move pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Umrah
b. oversee accommodation, transportation and other services for pilgrims
c. perform oversight and supervisory functions over all agencies involved in Hajj matters.
2. It creates the Hajj Savings Scheme under section 7, which is now a key tool for gradual savings and long term planning for pilgrims.
3. It places supervision of NAHCON “under the Presidency”. Section 3 defines NAHCON as a federal commission. Section 20, as interpreted by multiple legal commentaries and media analyses, clearly states that supervision of the Commission lies with the Presidency.
The Act does not say “Office of the Vice President”. It says “Presidency”.
In practice, the Presidency has historically carried out this supervision through the Office of the SGF. A 2017 article defending NAHCON’s structure noted that “every action taken by the Commission is approved by the Presidency under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation”.
This shows two things.
a. NAHCON is meant to sit under a strong, neutral coordinating centre in the Presidency.
b. The Office of the SGF has already served in that role in a way that is consistent with the Act.
3. The 2023 decision that moved NAHCON to the VP’s office
On 20 June 2023, the Presidency announced that you had approved the return of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and NAHCON to the Office of the Vice President for supervision “in compliance with their various establishment Acts”.
Respectfully, the NAHCON Act does not insist on the VP’s office. It insists on the Presidency. Supervision through the SGF is also supervision by the Presidency.
By placing NAHCON directly under the VP’s office, Nigeria has shifted from:
• a neutral, administrative coordinating structure under the SGF,
to
• a highly political, personality based structure under the Vice President.
This is a policy choice, not a legal obligation.
4. Evidence that SGF based supervision produces results
Hajj management under NAHCON has recorded major improvements when anchored within a strong coordinating structure of the Presidency and SGF. For example:
1. Saudi authorities and Nigerian stakeholders have publicly acknowledged that since NAHCON started in 2007, Nigeria moved from being “a recurring study case of Hajj mismanagement” to a country that “has turned around Hajj management”.
2. NAHCON introduced reforms like dealing directly with landlords in Makkah and Madinah. This cut out multiple exploitative agents and saved millions of dollars and Saudi Riyals in accommodation costs for pilgrims.
3. In recent years, NAHCON has:
• ferried all 95,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in 2023 for the first time in nearly a decade and filled the full national slot restored by Saudi Arabia
• managed more than 51,000 government quota pilgrims in 2024 under very difficult foreign exchange conditions
• secured Mashair space for 52,000 projected pilgrims ahead of the 2025 deadline.
These outcomes rely on heavy inter agency coordination with aviation, foreign affairs, interior, health, central bank, security agencies, and state governments. The SGF’s office is structurally designed to coordinate exactly this type of horizontal work.
5. Why the SGF is a better home than the VP’s office
You are trying to build a government of results, not noise. For Hajj management, SGF based supervision has at least five clear advantages over VP based supervision.
1. Stronger inter ministerial coordination
The SGF is the central coordinator of the federal bureaucracy. Most of the agencies NAHCON must work with already have lines of reporting and clearance that run through the SGF. Keeping NAHCON under the SGF reduces confusion, shortens clearance chains, and helps to resolve bottlenecks before they harm pilgrims.
2. Greater institutional stability and continuity
Nigeria has moved Hajj management through too many structures over the decades: regional boards, federal boards, commissions, temporary task forces, a directorate in Foreign Affairs, and now a commission in the Presidency.
Frequent shifts in who supervises NAHCON create uncertainty for staff, state boards, service providers and Saudi counterparts. The SGF’s office offers a stable, rules based platform that is less exposed to political reshuffles than a portfolio tied to the personal office of the Vice President.
3. Clearer accountability lines
When NAHCON sits under the SGF:
• the Chairman/CEO reports through a known administrative chain
• Parliament and auditors can follow documents and approvals across a predictable path
• Nigerian and Saudi partners know who to engage on policy questions and dispute resolution
The 2017 analysis that described NAHCON as “one of the most supervised agencies of the federal government” stressed that the SGF, Senate and House committees jointly oversee its work, including on ground during Hajj.
4. Better alignment with the NAHCON Act
The Act gives NAHCON regulatory, licensing, oversight, and savings scheme functions. These are administrative and regulatory duties, not political messaging duties. They fit naturally under the SGF’s coordinating and monitoring role.
Moving supervision back to the SGF keeps NAHCON under the Presidency as section 20 requires, while locating daily oversight with the part of the Presidency formally tasked with coordination of ministries, departments and agencies.
5. Reduced risk of politicisation
Placing NAHCON directly under the VP’s office makes it more likely that:
• key appointments and decisions will be viewed as partisan or regional
• inter party and intra party rivalries spill into Hajj administration
• future governments use the Commission in proxy political battles
Hajj should remain a national, non partisan service. Supervision through the SGF gives the Presidency control, while signalling neutrality and professionalism to all regions and sects.
6. Lessons from attempts to tamper with the NAHCON Act
The National Assembly has received at least one Bill that seeks to repeal and re enact the NAHCON Act. The fact that lawmakers now debate how to reshape the Commission proves two points.
1. NAHCON has become a significant institution in the federal architecture.
2. Any rash structural experiment can create serious risk for pilgrims and for Nigeria’s image in Saudi Arabia.
You have inherited a Commission that works, with known gaps that can be fixed. It is wiser to strengthen its original governance structure under the SGF than to push it into an office where political traffic is already heavy and priorities are constantly shifting.
7. What is at stake for pilgrims and for your government
Every year, tens of thousands of ordinary Nigerians save for years to go on Hajj. In 2023 about 95,000 Nigerians performed Hajj. In 2024 about 65,000 Nigerians participated.
These pilgrims judge the federal government not by speeches but by:
• how early flights start and finish
• whether accommodation is close, safe and decent
• how refunds and complaints are handled
• how medical teams respond in crises
• how clearly information is communicated before, during and after Hajj
Weak coordination or slow approvals at the top hurt real people on the ground. Pilgrims do not care about which desk in Abuja signs the memo. They care about tents, buses, food, and medical care in Makkah, Madinah, Mina and Arafat.
Your Excellency, you have already shown willingness to intervene strongly on Hajj matters, including on fares, refunds and early preparations for subsequent years. Relocating NAHCON back to the SGF’s coordination will give your directives stronger administrative backing and faster execution.
8. Respectful request
On this basis, I respectfully request that you:
1. Order a formal review of NAHCON’s current supervisory arrangement, with clear terms of reference that include efficiency, coordination, and consistency with the NAHCON Act 2006.
2. Restore NAHCON’s supervision to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, while affirming its status as a Commission under the Presidency in line with section 20 of the Act.
3. Direct that any future proposals to move NAHCON to a ministry or other political office must be subjected to full stakeholder consultation with state pilgrims boards, recognised Islamic organisations, licensed tour operators and civil society groups.
Your decision on this matter will shape Hajj administration for the next decade. It will also send a clear message that your government values stable institutions, respects the law, and listens to the voices of ordinary pilgrims whose life savings and spiritual aspirations are at stake.
With respect,
Concerned Nigerian Muslim and civic activist
