President Bola Tinubu has named Ismail Abba Yusuf as the new chairman and Chief Executive officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
The announcement was made on Wednesday in a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, “The appointment is subject to the Senate’s approval in accordance with the provisions of section 3(2) of the NAHCON Act, 2026.”
It further disclosed that “President Tinubu sent a letter today to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, requesting the expeditious confirmation of Ambassador Yusuf to replace Professor Abdullahi Usman, who resigned this week, after about 14 months in the post.”
Yusuf’s nomination comes shortly after Abdullahi Usman stepped down as NAHCON chairman on Monday. Usman reportedly resigned following “deep personal reflection.”
Before this appointment, Yusuf served as Nigeria’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Türkiye between 2021 and 2024.
Usman had been appointed in August 2024 after the removal of Jalal Arabi, who was being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over the alleged mismanagement of the N90 billion presidential subsidy allocated for the 2024 hajj exercise.
