President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Jalal Ahmad Arabi to serve as the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, for a term of four years in the first instance.
A statement by the president’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said the president had directed the outgoing chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, to proceed on three-months pre-retirement leave as provisioned by Public Service Rule, PSR 120243 with effect from October 18, 2023, leading to his eventual retirement from service on January 17, 2023.
The new chairman/CEO of NAHCON will assume office in acting capacity on October 18, 2023, and will continue to serve in substantive capacity for a fresh term of four years, beginning on January 17, 2023.
Mr Tinubu has also approved the dissolution of the Board of NAHCON.
The President expects that the new NAHCON leadership will serve in reverence of Allah and with utmost adherence to the precepts of service according to the Holy Qur’an.
Who is Jalal Ahmad Arabi?
Jalal was born in Jos, Plateau state but an indigene of Gombe State. He attended Islamiyya School in 1967 where he obtained his first School Leaving Certificate in 1973, Jalal proceeded to Government Secondary School Gombe that same year, rounding off college in 1978 with an enviable performance in the West African School Certificate (WASC) examination and thereafter, University of Jos in 1980 where he bagged a Law degree, LLB (Hons). He also moved to the Council of Legal Education, Lagos, where he bagged his BL in 1984. He began his working career in July, 1985 at the Ministry of Justice, Bauchi, Bauchi state.
In May 1993, Jalal Arabi was moved to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) as Legal Adviser to Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). He also moved to the Ministry of Defence as the Deputy Director (Parastatals/Special Services) in January 2003. He later rose to become the State House Counsel in June, 2007.
Aside from his normal duties, Jalal Arabi has also handled various ad-hoc work for his fatherland over the years. They include being a member of the Inter-Agency Committee for the Final Relocation and Settlement of Public Officers in Abuja – 1993; member of Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Drafting of Terms of Reference and Procedures for the Ad-hoc Constitutional Bodies (Transition Committee, Constitutional Conference Committee etc) – 1994; and member of Inter-Agency Committee on the Reorganisation and Repositioning of the Trade Unions and Affiliate Associations – 1994.
In November, 2015, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to the post of Permanent Secretary.
He was one of the influential figures at the State House throughout the tenure of President Buhari.
