National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has restated that the deadline for the remittance of the 50 percent deposit of this year’s allocation remains February 28, failure of which the affected state(s) will forfeit their allocation or be reduced.
This was stated in a statement issued by the Commission’s Assistant Director Information and Publications, Mousa Ubandawaki.
It explains that remittance to the Commission last week has been profound and payment to service providers in Saudi Arabia remains the biggest assurance that Nigeria will participate in this year’s Hajj.
The statement notes that, final remittance to the Commission should be concluded by February 28 in order to speed up arrangements on time.
“We implore all stakeholders to cooperate with us and ensure compliance with the directive in order to make the Hajj 2023 successful”.
While reiterating the Commission’s commitments to intending pilgrims who paid their fare are being registered, it urges the states to respect the agreement on the distribution of the Hajj quota based on 60% for government pilgrims and 40% for the Hajj Savings Scheme subscribers.
Similarly, the Commission is disturbed over cases of Hajj Savings scheme subscribers being discouraged or pressurized to withdraw or migrate their deposits from the scheme to the State Board, to be registered for this year’s Hajj.
“It should be emphasized that under the 2023 Hajj policy, 40% of intending pilgrims would be from Hajj Savings Scheme, while 60% would be from the government, pay as you go”.
The statement further says NAHCON will like to assure all the stakeholders that no stone will be left unturned to make sure that the 2023 Hajj arrangements and operations are hitch-free.