Benue suspends Muslim pilgrims board leadership over hajj slot, financial irregularities

The Benue State government has suspended the Chairman and Executive Secretary of its Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board. According to the Daily Post Nigeria, the suspended officials are Alhaji Abubakar Adamu, Chairman, and Alhaji Ahmadu Alhassan, Executive Secretary.

The suspensions, which are for three months, were approved by the Benue State Executive Council and took effect from Monday, September 21, 2026. The government cited allegations of misuse of Hajj slot allocations and mismanagement of funds as reasons for the suspensions. The Executive Secretary is also accused of irregularities in the distribution of government palliatives.

The government has appointed Hon. Ahmed Tijani Adamu Esq. as Acting Chairman and Mr. Adamu Salihu Babi as Acting Executive Secretary to ensure continuity in the running of the Board. The suspensions are intended to allow for a thorough investigation into the allegations, and do not imply a finding of guilt against the suspended officials.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Punch, Daily Post Nigeria — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.