The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has stated that the federal government will not subsidise hajj payment for pilgrims in 2025.
Daily Trust reports that government subsidy is mostly in the form of concessionary rate which allows pilgrims to access dollars at a reduced rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A statement by the spokesperson of the commission, Fatima Sanda Usara, said for the 2025 Hajj, “There will be no concessionary exchange rate from the government for Hajj fare payment for pilgrims whether under state or private Hajj operators.”
This means that if the naira maintains its current rate of N1,650 to a dollar, each intending pilgrim will pay almost N10million for hajj fare as pilgrims pay at least $6,000.
While NAHCON is yet to announce the hajj fare for the 2025 hajj, States Pilgrims Welfare Board have begun asking intending pilgrims to pay N8.5m as initial deposit pending the announcement of the hajj fare.
The statement also announced the refund of 64,682 (150 Saudi Riyal) to every Nigerian pilgrim that participated in the 2023 hajj.
The statement added that the revelations were made during an interactive meeting between NAHCON and members of Private Tour Operators in Nigeria (PTOs).
“The meeting held today, 7th October 2024 was to update members on resolutions reached after resumption of office on Wednesday, 2nd October 2024 by Acting Chairman of the Commission, Prof Abdullahi Sale Pakistan who had been absent briefly on a trip.
“NAHCON’s Commissioner of Operations, Prince Anofi Olanrewaju Elegushi, chaired the virtual meeting with the PTO’s where he relayed new developments from both Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (MoHU) and NAHCON’s decisions resulting from the second EXCO meeting with the new head of the Commission.”
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