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The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has made clarification on the purported N90 billion given by the Federal Government to aid the smooth arrangement of Nigeria’s intending pilgrims to the 2024 Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking with a Daily Trust reporter, a source in the commission said the support was provided by the government and announced by Vice President, Kashim Shettima during the inauguration of the board and management of the Hajj Commission on February 28, 2024.
The decision, the source said, was informed by the problem of exchange rate and disadvantages position of the naira that the Federal Government envisaged ahead.
“The N90 billion support which was provided by the government was announced in the presence of reporters during the inauguration of the board and management of the Hajj Commission which was held at the Office of the Vice Presidency on February 28, 2024.
“But they (reporters) were asked not to report it. That was why no newspaper carried the report or did you see it in any reports?”
“By the previous calculation, the N90 billion given by the federal government can only subsidise 19,000 intending pilgrims by ₦3.5 million. But by spreading it on 50,000 pilgrims, it reduces it to N1.9 million; meaning that the federal government has subsidised each pilgrim by ₦1.6 million and with this, each intending pilgrim is asked to add the remaining N1.9 million,” he said.
The source further said “If the commission had received up to N230 billion as support from the federal government, there would have been no need to ask intending pilgrims “to add a dime.”
“The forex crisis has caused a lot of problems. That is why the Hajj Commission has asked intending pilgrims to pay the extra amount of N1.9 million each. The commission actually needed N230 billion to sort out the fare differential caused by the forex crisis.
“If the intending pilgrims pay ₦1.9 million, it is then it can be balanced.”
He said the NAHCON had also contacted state governors “to subsidize the hajj fare for the intending pilgrims in their respective states said Kano has responded by subsiding it by N500,000 for each pilgrim.”
The source further disclosed that “Normally, any support that the government is giving to any faith, whether the Christian faith or the Muslim faith, the government does not like to announce it openly so that it will not appear as if the government is favouring on faith.”
Recall that NAHCON in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson, Fatima Usara, had raised the fare by N1, 918,032.91, jacking up the total amount to N6.8 million, having initially paid about N4.9 million, depending on the departure zone of each pilgrim as approved by the government.
The commission had also said intending pilgrims had up to March 28, 2024 to make payment for the spiritual exercise.
The NAHCON had attributed the latest hike in hajj fare to the foreign exchange crisis which Nigeria has been battling for months. (AccurateNewsNg/DailyTrust)
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