.As Tinubu directs NAHCON to carry out review
.Fares to drop from N8.5m to N7.7m amid naira FX gains
By Mariyah Adamu
President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, to immediately reduce the cost of the 2026 Hajj fares recently announced.
Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadeija, made this known while briefing State House Correspondents after a meeting with the officials of NAHCON, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.
It would be recalled that NAHCON after due consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, announced the 2026 hajj fare as follows: Maiduguri-Yola Zone (Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba) will pay N8,318,336.67.
Others are: Northern States will pay N8,244,813.67; while Southern States will pay N8,561,013.67, respectively.
Subsequently, Hadeija, said Tinubu felt the need for the commission to look at the possibility of reducing the hajj fare.
According to him, ”This meeting was essentially called at the instance of His Excellency, the Vice-President to look at the possibility of reducing the Hajj fare for the 2026 pilgrimage.
”As you know, the hajj fare component is about 95 and 96% foreign exchange based.
“The fares announced by the NAHCON were based on a very pessimistic exchange rate of N1,550.
”And the rates have continue to improve steadily with the naira appreciating based on the effects of the economic reforms of the government taken place”.
Hadeija, stated that the vice-president felt that, if during last hajj pilgrimage, pilgrims paid between N8.5 to N8.6 million based on negative exchange rate, now that the exchange rate had improved.
He continued,” Then we should also pass the benefits to them and all the officers of the Hajj commission are here and they have been told to immediately go to look at more realistic exchange rates.
” If they apply that we should be able to bring the hajj fare to N7.6 to N7.7 million.
“The final figure will be announced in the next two days.
”But this is also dependent on very quick remittance of the funds from the State Muslims Pilgrim Welfare Boards.
” The faster the pilgrims pay their hajj fares and they are remitted to the hajj commission, the faster they can pass it to the Central Bank of Nigeria to buy the dollars for them.
”So. If we achieve that, we for see a situation pilgrims this year will have a very significant reduction in the Hajj rate”, he said.
On his part, the Chairman, Kebbi Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Faruk Yaro, expressed gratitude to Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima for their timely intervention.
He said, ”We are very happy because, the president and the vice-president have already intervened.
Also, the Secretary of NAHCON, Dr. Mustapha Mohammad, said, ”It is a welcome development and the lower the hajj fare is l, the more Muslims will have the opportunity of performing the hajj.
”So, as directed by the vice-president, we will work tirelessly between today and tomorrow to see that we reduce it to an affordable rate where each and every Muslim will have the opportunity to perform this very important pillar of islam”.
In a related development, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has commenced nationwide verification exercise for private tour operators as part of its preparation for the 2026 Umrah and Hajj operations.
NAHCON said this in a statement issued by its Information Officer, Malam Shafii Mohammed, in Abuja, yesterday.
Mohammed, said that the exercise followed the recent inauguration of the Committee on Licensing and Verification of Private Tour Operators by the NAHCON Chairman, Prof. Abdullahi Usman.
He said that the committee had the mandate to verify and assess all applications submitted by licensed and intending tour operator companies seeking accreditation to participate in the forthcoming pilgrimage season.
“The verification exercise, which kicked off in Kano, is being conducted by a delegation from the commission’s Tour Operators Unit under the Operations, Inspectorate, and Licensing Department, OILS”, he said.
