2025 Hajj: Tour Operators Task NAHCON On Trust Deficit
- Says Commission owes its members N15bn
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Ahead of preparations for the 2025 Hajj, Tour Operators under the auspices of the Association for Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON) have tasked the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to address the trust deficit currently trailing its operations.
According to the operators it has become expedient for the Commission to come clean of public distrust in the eyes of Nigerian Muslims and stakeholders in the hajj industry.
Speaking through its President, Alhaji Abdullateef Ekundayo, AHUON said before passing judgment and deciding on the categories of those to performs Hajj 2025, NAHCON should clear itself of alleged dubious dealings and insider abuses perpetrated by the management.
Addressing the media on Monday in Abuja over a statement accredited to NAHCON that; “With or without AHUON Arafat will hold“, Ekundayo said there is no backing down on the recent directives for its members to discontinue any preparation regarding the 2025 Hajj operations until they are paid their monies trapped with the Commission since the 2004 to 2024 Hajj operations.
He said available record indicates that the Hajj Commission is indebted to AHUON members to the tune of over N15 billion but has remained indifference to the plight of the operators’ businesses.
Ekundayo, who explained that after each Hajj operation, the Saudi government has this goodwill of refunding money to countries over services paid by pilgrims but not rendered, or services paid for but poorly rendered to the agreed standard, and tent security deposits, wondered why NAHCON should surreptitiously hold on to such refunds instead of settling AHUON members
The AHUON President said; “Our members are owed all these categories of money from the 2004 Hajj to date by the commission. They confirmed in our meeting with them that they have received the sum of 20,000,000.SR (Twenty Million Saudi Riyals) of such refund from the Saudi authority since December last year, but they are yet to formally notify us to talk less of agreeing on the modalities of the refund payment.”
He alleged that NAHCON received over N2.7 billion as caution deposit from the members which the Commission were to refund two weeks after the conclusion of the Hajj.
“NAHCON has refused to refund any of the companies that applied for it, instead, they are asking for more money as an increase to last year’s deposit.
“We wish to call upon the Commission to address issues instead of passing judgement on who performs Hajj 2025 and who will not perform. As for AHUON, only Allah whose call we answer to the Holy land can decide who performs Hajj 2025″.
Ekundayo further said that while their counterparts in Niger, Egypt, South Africa and other countries have received these monies through their regulators, “NAHCON has continued to keep hold on to our monies”, adding that; “This is making us and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s hajj industry to be suspicious of and have no confidence in NAHCON.
“There is lack of credibility in NAHCON because the trust Nigerian Muslims have in the Commission has dropped totally, and we urged the new chairman to restore credibility to the commission”.
Also accusing NAHCON of misleading the public about the Saudi 2025 Hajj calendar to portray AHUON as frustrating preparations for the upcoming Hajj, Ekundayo said; “Nigeria has a total of 95,000 slots allocation, out of which tour operators have only 20,000. Why has the Commission been so perturbed about the preparation of the 20,000 as against the 75,000 of the State Pilgrim Boards?
“Clearly, the Commission is only after the money they want to collect from our members to use it to support their usual jamboree trips to Saudi Arabia.
“Talking about the Hajj calendar, we have four months to the start of issuance of the Hajj visa which will run for another two good months and end on April 18th, 2025.
“Therefore, the Commission has ample time to deal with the matter at hand if they really want”.
