The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has announced that the Federal Government will no longer subsidize Hajj payments for pilgrims in 2025.
According to a Daily Trust report, government subsidies are mainly provided in the form of concessional interest rates, allowing pilgrims to access dollars from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at discounted rates.
Fatima Sanda Usala, a spokeswoman for the commission, said in a statement that for the 2025 hajj, “there will be no government support regarding the payment of haj fees to pilgrims, whether they are state-run or private hajj operators. There is no preferential exchange rate.”
This means that if the naira maintains its current rate of 1,650 naira to the dollar, would-be pilgrims will pay almost 10 million naira in pilgrimage fees, while pilgrims will pay at least $6,000. means.
Although NAHCON is yet to announce the Hajj fees for the 2025 Hajj, the State Pilgrims Welfare Board has begun asking pilgrims to pay N8.5 million as a down payment pending the announcement of Hajj fees.
The statement also announced that all Nigerian pilgrims who participated in the 2023 Hajj will be reimbursed 64,682 (SAR 150).
The statement added that the disclosure was made during an interactive meeting between NAHCON and members of Private Tour Operators (PTOs) in Nigeria.
“The meeting held today, October 7, 2024, was reached after Acting Committee Chairman Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan resumed his duties on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, after a brief absence due to travel. The purpose of this meeting was to update members on the latest resolutions.
“NAHCON Steering Committee member Prince Anofi Olanrewaju Elegushi chaired a virtual meeting with the PTO to discuss new developments from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (MoHU) and the 2nd EXCO with the new Director General. communicated NAHCON’s decisions resulting from the meeting.
Elegushi also said that Saudi Arabia has further reduced the number of PTOs from the originally announced 20 to 10, and that each company will need to register a minimum of 2,000 pilgrims to be eligible for Hajj visa approval. said.
He said the commission is awaiting further details regarding the 2022 refund, but the details of the refund have only been revealed to PTOs who camped at Field Office 18 in 2022, and they will He said he would receive a lump sum of SR62, 602 (N26,993,224) as refund for the defect. Mashail.
“Similarly, the Commissioner’s Affairs Department informed PTO members that the EXCO of NAHCON has approved the option to accept a bank guarantee as payment of the N40 million vigilance deposit for the 2025 Hajj.In view of the above, the bank guarantee Operators who wish to be paid by, but have already deposited in cash, are advised to request collection of their previous deposit in order to provide a bank guarantee.
He also said that contrary to claims that NAHCON owed N17 billion to the PTO from the N25 million security deposit for the 2024 Hajj, N2 billion and N750 million from 110 companies registered for the 2024 Hajj. He also revealed that he only received naira.
“This amount included a rollover of N250 million from the previous year. Of this, 30 companies requested a refund of N750 million, which has already been paid. PTO pending The balance accruing to is still under the control of the commission and is N750 million.”
