By Uche Amunike
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has announced that the federal government will not provide concessionary exchange rates for the payments of Hajj 2025 pilgrimage, stating that the decision affects every pilgrim, whether traveling under the state or private hajj operators.
This disclosure was made by NAHCON Commissioner of Operations, Anofi Olanrewaju-Elegushi, during an interactive meeting with members of Private Tour Operators (PTOs) in Nigeria, Monday.
Recall that the federal government had previously subsidized the exchange rate for payments of the Hajj program, in order to help reduce the financial burden on pilgrims. The Hajj 2025 pilgrimage, will however, require pilgrims to pay the actual market rate which would be higher compared to the previous years. If the Naira retains its current rate of N1650 per dollar, it means the cost of Hajj 2025 will likely rise as high as N10m per pilgrim.
Even though NAHCON has not announced the exact Hajj fare for 2025, the state pilgrimage board has announced that intending pilgrims should start making deposit payments.
According to the commission, the delay in announcing the fare for Hajj 2025 is as a result of the need to collect data on the cost that pilgrims will be required to cover. For example, the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board directed intending pilgrims from the state to pay N8.4m as a deposit for the Hajj 2025 pilgrimage, while the Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board directed that a fixed initial deposit of N8.5m should be paid for the 2025 exercise.
According to a statement released by the Assistant Director of Public Affairs, NAHCON, Fatima Usara, it is already official that there will be no concessionary exchange rate from the government this time, under any circumstances.
On his part, Elegushi announced that NAHCON would refund SR250 (N64,679) each to 95,000 Nigerian pilgrims who participated in the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage. he also informed the members that the commission has received some details on 2023 Hajj refunds.
His words: ‘All 95,000 Nigerian pilgrims that traveled for Hajj in 2023 from both states and private operators are to receive SR150 each (150 Saudi Riyals) refund.’
He also assure that NAHCON has already started working towards making the refunds.
His words: ‘As for 2022 refund, the commission is still awaiting further details. However, Prince Elegushi revealed that refund details have emerged only for PTOs that camped on Field Office 18 in 2022.’
He explained that they would collectively receive SR62,602 (Sixty-two thousand, six hundred and two Saudi Riyals) as refund for poor feeding in the Masha’ir.’
He further announced that the number of lead companies earlier listed to spearhead the conduct of the 2025 Hajj from the private sector, has been reduced from 20 to 10 by the MoHU, adding that the ministry has directed that each company must register a minimum of 2000 pilgrims to be considered for Hajj visa approval.
He also cleared the air to claims that NAHCON owes PTOs N17bn from the 2024 Hajj caution deposit of N25 million, stating that the commission received only N2bn,750m from 110 companies that registered for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage and explained that the amount included a roll-over of N1bn, N250m from the previous year. Thirty companies requested refunds that amounted to N750m from the amount, which has been paid. The balance presently in the custody of the commission, accruing to undecided PTOs, stand at N750m.
He further concluded: ‘As part of efforts to curtail hitches for the 2025 Hajj and current Umrah operations, relevant officers of the commission under the acting chairman along with selected members of the PTOs will visit Saudi Arabia soon to seek a headway in contentious issues, such as trapped deposits, unexplained refunds and a limited number of Umrah visas.’
