The federal government has released a sum of N90 billion to subsidise the 2024 pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
An impeccable source within the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) revealed this to Daily Trust on Thursday.
The source, who asked not to be named, noted that without this intervention, each of the intending pilgrims would have been requested to add at least N3.5 million to the initial fare which was pegged at N4.9 million.
A top official at the Presidency also confirmed that the federal government “actually provided some financial support for the hajj exercise”.
Recall that the NAHCON had, in December last year, fixed a fare of N4.9 million per pilgrim based on the exchange rate of N897 to a dollar.
In announcing the fare at that time, the commission had quoted the sum of N4,899,000 for southern pilgrims; N4,699,000 for those from the North; while pilgrims from Yola and Maiduguri centres were asked to pay N4,679,000.
Through a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson, Fatima Usara, the hajj commission had raised the fare by N1, 918,032.91, jacking up the total amount to N6.8 million.
The commission had also said intending pilgrims had up to yesterday (March 28, 2024) to make payment for the spiritual exercise.
The NAHCON had attributed the latest hike in hajj fare to the foreign exchange crisis which Nigeria has been battling for months.
The NAHCON’s source told Daily Trust that if the commission had received up to N230 billion as support from the federal government, there would have been no need to ask intending pilgrims “to add a dime.”
“The forex crisis has caused a lot of problems. That is why the Hajj Commission has asked intending pilgrims to pay the extra amount of N1.9 million each. The commission actually needed N230 billion to sort out the fare differential caused by the forex crisis.
