The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has urged states’ pilgrims welfare boards to collect N4.5m as deposit from intending pilgrims for 2024 Hajj.
Speaking after a meeting with chairmen and executive secretaries for the states’ pilgrims boards on Tuesday in Abuja, the Chairman of NAHCON, Zikrullah Hassan, said the fare for the next hajj would be expensive due to the unification of foreign exchange by the federal government.
Hassan noted that with the dollar currently at N740, the commission is not certain what the price for pilgrims would be owing to the fluctuation of forex.
He said the deposit might change depending on the performance of the naira.
Recall that the states’ pilgrims who performed hajj in 2023 paid between N2.8m and N3m when the exchange rate was N450 to a dollar.
“I must tell you that next year’s hajj is going to be expensive. This is something we must prepare for, starting from today. I am not saying we will be able to know the cost today, but what we are sure of is that hajj is going to be expensive and I will tell you why.
“First, it appears that the age of concessionary rate is gone. As we speak, the forex is at N740 to a dollar, so, if you multiply that with the dollar fare for hajj last year, you can imagine how many more millions you will need to add to the cost of hajj. The government has been clear on it. There is going to be only one rate as far as forex is concerned. Will the N740 come down? I don’t know, but I pray it does.
If it goes down, we’ll fix the price with it. If doesn’t go down, we have no choice. That’s to tell us to prepare ahead for the cost.”
Hassan, who noted that the preparation for Hajj 2024 had begun, said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would end the issuance of visa 45 days to Arafat.
He said this would stop state governors from changing the names of approved pilgrims to accommodate new ones.
“By the 29th of April, visa issuance will close. 10 days after, pilgrims will begin to arrive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“Unlike what we do when it is two days to the closure of the flight, somebody will say my governor wants some people to go to hajj and look for the slot, the Kingdom said it is gone forever. It means you have between 40 to 50 days to Arafat when you can’t get a visa anymore,” he stated.
He said NAHCON had constituted a committee to look into how a refund would be secured for services not rendered to Nigerian pilgrims during the 2023 hajj.
– Daily Trust
