FG Wants Hajj Commission To Reduce 2026 Fares

THE Federal Government has directed the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to explore the possibility of reducing the cost of next year’s Hajj.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Hadeija, disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents after a meeting with NAHCON officials at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Recall that NAHCON, after due consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, had pegged the hajj fare as: Maiduguri-Yola Zone (Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba), N8,318,336.67; other northern states, N8,244,813.67; and southern states, N8,561,013.67.
However, Hadeija said: “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 per cent foreign exchange-based. The fares announced by the NAHCON were based on a very pessimistic exchange rate of N1,550.
“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 noted that the vice president believed that if during the last pilgrimage, pilgrims paid between N8.5million and N8.6million based on negative exchange rate, now that the exchange rate had improved, “we should also pass the benefits to them.
“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 N7.6million to N7.7million, 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 Commission, the faster they can pass it to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to buy the dollars for them.
“So, if we achieve that, we forsee a situation where pilgrims this year will have a very significant reduction in the Hajj rate.”
Secretary of NAHCON, Mustapha Mohammad, said: “It is a welcome development and the lower the hajj fare is, the more Muslims will have the opportunity of performing the hajj.
“So, as directed by the vice president, we will work tirelessly between 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.”