President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, approved the appointment of 11 persons as members of the new board and management team for the National Hajj Commission, pending confirmation by the Nigerian Senate.
Tinubu made the new appointments based on “his resolve to ensure hitch-free and seamless 2024 Hajj operations,” a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed.
The statement is titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints National Hajj Commission Board and Management team.’
They include Jalal Arabi who was appointed Chairman last October, Aliu Abdulrazaq as Commissioner, Policy, Personnel and Finance; Anofi Elegushi as Commissioner, Operations; and Prof. Abubakar Yagawal as the Commissioner for Planning and Research.
At the zonal level, the President appointed eight representatives.
They include Dr. Muhammad Ndagi (North Central), Abba Kala (North East), Muhammad Bin Othman (North West), Tajudeen Abefe (South West) and Aishat Ahmed (South East).
Others are Zainab Musa (South-South), Prof. Musa Fodio representing the Jama’atul Nasril Islam and Prof. Adedimizi Adebola from the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs.
Ngelale said Tinubu mandated the appointees to “dedicate themselves to the task of ensuring that operations of the National Hajj Commission are more efficient, transparent, and responsive to the needs of Nigerians.”
Olumuyiwa Takes Over Humanitarian And Poverty Alleviation Ministry:
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Olumuyiwa Enitan, has taken over the management of the ministry as directed by President Bola Tinubu after the suspension of Betta Edu as minister.
Edu was suspended by the President on Monday following widespread anger over the approval given by the former humanitarian affairs minister for the payment of N585m into a private account.
The President had directed the minister to hand over to the permanent secretary, who got the letter to take over the affairs of the ministry on Monday night.
The letter was handed over to Enitan by an official from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, according to workers at the humanitarian ministry on Wednesday.
“The permanent secretary has taken over the affairs of the ministry based on the directive of Mr President. He officially got the letter to assume duty on Monday night,” a senior official at the humanitarian ministry, who pleaded not to be named due to a lack of authorisation, stated.
The official added, “He (permanent secretary) needed to get the letter of authorisation from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation before assuming duties, despite the announcement in the media.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, had stated in a statement on Monday that Tinubu directed the suspended minister to “hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.”
The suspended minister was also directed by the President to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.
The panel, headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, was also charged with conducting a comprehensive diagnostic of the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes.