The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has stated that the federal government will not provide subsidies for Hajj pilgrims in 2025.

Daily Trust reports that the government subsidy has mostly been provided in the form of concessionary exchange rates, allowing pilgrims to access US dollars at a reduced rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A statement by the spokesperson of the commission, Fatima Sanda Usara, clarified that 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 remains at its current rate of ₦1,650 per dollar, each intending pilgrim will pay almost ₦10 million for Hajj fare as pilgrims pay at least $6,000.

While NAHCON has yet to announce the Hajj fare for the 2025 pilgrimage, state Pilgrims Welfare Boards have already started asking intending pilgrims to pay ₦8.5 million as an initial deposit pending the official announcement of the Hajj fare.

The statement also announced a refund of 64,682 Saudi Riyals (equivalent to ₦150) for every Nigerian pilgrim who participated in the 2023 Hajj.

Further clarifications from NAHCON highlighted that these revelations were made during an interactive meeting between NAHCON and members of Private Tour Operators in Nigeria (PTOs). 

During the meeting held on October 7, 2024, Acting Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Sale Pakistan, provided updates on decisions reached after the resumption of the commission’s office on October 2, 2024.

NAHCON's Commissioner of Operations, Prince Anofi Olanrewaju Elegushi, chaired the virtual meeting with PTOs, where he relayed new developments from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (MoHU) and NAHCON’s decisions resulting from their EXCO meeting.

Elegushi also stated that Saudi Arabia has further reduced the number of PTOs from 20 to 10, and each company must register a minimum of 2,000 pilgrims to be considered for Hajj visa approval.

Regarding the 2022 refunds, the commission is still awaiting further details. However, refund details have been confirmed for PTOs that camped on Field Office 18 in 2022, and 362,602 pilgrims are set to receive SAR 26,993,224 as a refund for poor feeding at the Masha’ir.

Similarly, the Commissioner of Operations informed the PTO members that the NAHCON EXCO has approved the option of honoring bank guarantees as payment of the caution deposit of ₦40 million for the 2025 Hajj. In light of the above, any operator who wishes to make the payment through a bank guarantee but has already made a cash deposit is invited to request a refund of the earlier deposit in order to present the bank guarantee.

Elegushi also clarified that contrary to claims that NAHCON owes PTOs ₦17 billion from the 2024 Hajj caution deposit of ₦25 million, it only received ₦2 billion, with ₦750 million coming from 110 companies that registered for the 2024 Hajj.

He added that the total amount included a rollover of ₦1 billion, ₦250 million from the previous year, and of that amount, 30 companies requested refunds amounting to ₦750 million, which has been paid. The balance still held by the commission and related to undecided PTOs is ₦750 million.