Hajj Tour Operators Question NAHCON over Share of N90bn Subsidy for 14,000 Pilgrims

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHOUN) has lamented that none of the 14,000 pilgrims that performed the 2024 hajj through international segment has received a dime out of the N90 billion released to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) subsidy to cushion the burden of the high exchange rate.

The body made the outcry in a statement issued over the weekend and signed by the National President of the association, Abdullateef Yusuf Ekundayo, and its General Secretary, Muhammad Nasir Chamo.

It accused NAHCON of failing to redeem its pledge despite many promises by the commission that international pilgrims would be considered in any concession that is received from the government.

“This year, about 14,000 pilgrims performed the hajj exercise through the international segment. But we repeat, none of our members has benefited from the N90 billion as NAHCON claimed to have distributed to Nigerians pilgrims despite our demands,” AHOUN said. It noted that the recent world press conference addressed by NAHCON should have a platform for all stakeholders in the Hajj and Umrah management to air their views and proffers solutions to the perennial failure of the commission.

 to conduct and manage a hitch-free and delightful hajj operation.

Rather, AHOUN berated NAHCON for using the occasion to blow its trumpet by dishing out misleading statistics as if all was in order at the just concluded Hajj 2024.

“We have never doubted or challenged the statutory right of NAHCON as the regulator and umpire in affairs of Hajj and Umrah in Nigeria. However, when an umpire decided to become an active player in any game, conflict of interest will set in and everything to do with fairness, rectitude and transparency comes to question,” it said.

The association claimed that despite its demands, NAHCON had not offered explanation on the N90 billion it claimed to have distributed to Nigerian pilgrims, insisting it would ask for the share of these fund from the federal government for 14,000 pilgrims that performed the Hajj through the international segment.

The tour operators also said it was not culpable for the humiliation and harassment Nigerian dignitaries were subjected to at the Tent ‘A’ (VIP Tent) in Mina.

It described NAHCON narrative as a self-serving propaganda, saying the commission single handedly selected and appointed all the service providers for the 2024 Hajj, including pilgrim’s accommodation providers, feeding, tents and transportation services among others.