The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has fixed February 28 deadline for the remittance of 50 percent deposit of 2022 allocation remains.
A statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Mousa Ubandawaki on Thursday said the affected states would forfeit their allocation or got it slashed if they fail to meet the deadline.
It said remittance to the commission in this past week has been abysmal and payment to service providers in Saudi Arabia remains the biggest assurance that Nigeria will participate in 2023 hajj.
“Therefore, it is necessary to kick things off. By our calendar of events, final remittance to the commission should be concluded by February 28 in order to conclude our arrangements on time, as we didn’t want to give room to lapses,” the statement said.
Mr Ubandawaki said, “We implore the SPWB/A/C to cooperate with us and ensure compliance with the directive in order to make the Hajj 2023 successful.”
NAHCON reiterated its commitments to all intending pilgrims to ensure that everyone who paid their fare is registered. “We urge the states to respect the agreement on the distribution of hajj quota on the basis of 60% for government pilgrims and 40% for the Hajj Savings Scheme subscribers.”
Also, the commission is disturbed about cases of Hajj Savings scheme subscribers being discouraged or pressurized to withdraw or migrate their deposits from the scheme to the State Board, in order 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 commission said.
