Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said it would not reverse the N250 million statement of account for three years it demanded from Hajj Tour Operators as conditions to be allocated with pilgrims.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NAHCON, Ambassador Ismail Abba Yusuf, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at an interface with the media on the various issues shaping the 2027 Hajj exercise.
He said the need to ensure that tour operators have financial capacity that prompted the Commission to change the guarantee to N250 million from N40million in lieu of pilgrims in spite of objection from the operators.
“We changed that bank guarantee to N250m and there was a lot or resistance but we felt the move was correct, because if you are taking for example, 100 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia that is already N1 billion while you are depositing N40 million.
“If you go and mess up with those pilgrims, we will use the N40 million to do what? That is the reason we raised it to align with the responsibility that they have,” Yusuf said.
He added that the commission was also working and consulting all the time with the states on digital interface as only a few of the Nigerian tour operators have the kind of capacity that the Saudis required for uploading to NUSUK platform as most of them were still going through the commission.
Yusuf also clarified that because of international anti money regulation, every fund remitted to pilgrims has to pass through Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which he added would not remittance for private entities for Hajj when there are manufacturers of matches who also want to get foreign exchange for raw materials
“So, they (tour operators) are not ready. We needed this window to get them ready. It not a resistance, it is called preparation. They asked for 30 percent—we will watch what they will do with the 30 per cent after that we will agree with the Saudis to increase it until we reach a threshold.
“We are helping the Tour Operators and majority of them truly understand because we are consulting with them all the time,” he said.
Yusuf, who gave an overview on Saudi Arabia’s 2026 Hajj policy reforms, including the September 26, 2026 deadline for uploading of pilgrims’ data, said the federal government had also agreed that the 50,000 quota given to Nigeria was sacrosanct.
“Now the institutional response and government response to all this Saudi reform is very simple. The Nigerian government has thrown its full institutional weight behind compliance that Nigeria should comply.
“Government emphasizes that Nigeria must remain a law-abiding partner to maintain its diplomatic credibility and prestige. So NAHCON is complying as much as it can,” he said.