Travel agents, under the aegis of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON), have called on the new Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Usman, to expedite action on the payment of their money amounting to about N2.7 billion being held by the commission.
President of AHUON, Abdullateef Ekundayo, made the call at the association’s zonal conference held in Lagos.
According to him, the said amount comprised N25 million individual funds paid as initial deposits to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the order of NAHCON, before the 2024 Hajj exercise.
Ekundayo further said another sum of over N1 billion belonging to 200 agents as their initial deposits during the 2023 hajj operations had also not been refunded.
He claimed that NAHCON had assured them that the money would be refunded a maximum of three weeks after the year’s operation, but three months after, they were yet to get it back.
“Aside from 2023, some of our members have had their money trapped with NAHCON since 2004,” the AHUON president stated.
“We need our money as soon as we can get it. In fact, we want it this week, if possible, because they will soon ask us to start bringing money for the 2025 operations again. We need our money and we need it urgently,” he added.
