The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has declared that the federal government will not provide a concessionary exchange rate for 2025 Hajj fare payments.
The commission said the decision affects all pilgrims whether traveling under state or private Hajj operators.
NAHCON’s Commissioner of Operations, Anofi Olanrewaju-Elegushi, disclosed this in an interactive meeting with members of Private Tour Operators in Nigeria (PTOs) on Monday.
The Federal government previously subsidised the exchange rate for Hajj payments to help reduce the financial burden on pilgrims.
This means that for the 2025 Hajj, pilgrims will now have to pay the actual market rate which could be significantly higher compared to previous years.
The cost of Hajj is projected to soar as high as N10 million per pilgrim if the naira retains its current rate of N1,650 per dollar.
Though NAHCON has not announced the 2025 hajj fare, the state pilgrims board has directed intending pilgrims to make deposit payments.
The commission explained that the delay in announcing the fare for the 2025 Hajj is due to the need for thorough data collection on the costs pilgrims will be required to cover.
For instance, the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board asked intending pilgrims from the state to pay N8.4m as a deposit for next year’s exercise. The Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board also fixed N8.5m as an initial deposit for the 2025 Hajj exercise.
NAHCON’s Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Fatima Usara, revealed what transpired during a meeting in a statement
“It was confirmed that for the 2025 Hajj, there will be no concessionary exchange rate from government for Hajj fare payment for pilgrims whether under state or private Hajj operators,” Usara said.
Elegushi also announced that the commission would refund SR150 (N64,679) each to 95,000 Nigerian pilgrims who participated in the 2023 Hajj exercise.
The Commissioner informed the members that some details have been received on 2023 Hajj refunds.
“All 95,000 Nigerian pilgrims that travelled for Hajj in 2023 from both states and private operators are to receive SR150 each (one hundred and fifty Saudi Riyals) as refund,” he said.
He disclosed that NAHCON has already started working towards making the payments.
“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 said.
“They are to collectively receive SR62,602 (sixty-two thousand six hundred and two thousand Saudi Riyals) as refund for poor feeding in the Masha’ir.”
Elegushi announced that instead of 20 lead Companies earlier slated to spearhead the conduct of the 2025 Hajj from the private sector, the number has been reduced to 10 by the MoHU.
He said yhe ministry has stipulated that each company must register minimum of 2,000 pilgrims to be considered for Hajj visa approval.
Elegushi also clarified that contrary to claims that NAHCON owes PTOs N17billion from the 2024 Hajj caution deposit of N25m, he explained that the Commission received only N2billion, 750million from 110 companies that registered for the 2024 Hajj.
The amount he said included a roll-over of N1billion, 250m from the previous year. From the amount, 30 companies requested for refunds amounting to N750m which has been paid. The balance still in the custody of the Commission accruing to undecided PTOs is N750m.
“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 IBAN deposits, unexplained refunds and limited number of Umrah visa,” he said.
