The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has commenced the announcement of the 2017 Hajj fares with a call on relevant bodies to speed up the process of collecting and remitting same to the commission.
The announcement was made at the ongoing state Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare boards, agencies and commissions meeting at NAHCON headquarters in Abuja.
At the time of going to press, six states of Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Adamawa and Yobe had announced their hajj fares to be paid by pilgrims.
While Nasarawa pilgrims are to pay N1,544,894.16 for this year’s hajj, Niger pilgrims are expected to pay N1,525,483.30, Kaduna, N1,535,503.68, Kano, N1,537,859.97, Adamawa, N1,530,101.08 and Yobe, N1,520,101.18, respectively.
The packages include $800 general Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).
An official of the commission however said the packages exclude hadaya (sacrificial ram) fees which has been fixed at N38,000 for this year’s exercise.
The boards are expected to collect the sums and remit same to Jaiz Bank Plc, which is the appointed bank for the collection of the money.
Unlike the practice of uniform fares of the past, the commission’s ongoing reform announced by the Chairman of the commission Abdullahi Mukhtar Mohammed, shows that each of the 36 states of the federation has different fares based on the services to be rendered to pilgrims and local distance millage among other considerations.
