The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has given fresh hope to Nigerians intending to perform the 2025 Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to register and pay for the spiritual exercise.
The Nigerian Hajj body had earlier fixed a deadline of January 31 for intending pilgrims to register but later changed the date to February 10.
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At the close of registration, only 26,287 intending pilgrims made full payment of the over N8million fare for this year’s Hajj, which fell short of the 95,000 slots allocated to Nigeria by the Saudi Arabian authority.
On February 13, NAHCON announced that it had successfully secured over 52,000 spaces for Nigerian pilgrims at the Masha’ir (holy sites of Muna, Arafat and Muzdalifah) for this year.
The commission had stated that securing the 52,000 space at the Masha’ir was a proactive move aimed at meeting the February 14 deadline set by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for finalising contract agreements by participating countries before the closure of the Nusuk Masar contracts’ portal.
The contract agreement is an essential requirement for uploading visas, which had commenced on February 19.
However, in a statement signed by NAHCON’s Assistant Director, Information and Publication, Fatima Sanda Usara, on behalf the commission’s Chairman/CEO, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman, made available to Tribune Online, the commission informed all intending pilgrims yet to complete their fare and other planning to go for this year’s Hajj that registration remained open until the over 52,000 slots was exhausted.
The commission, therefore, urged all interested pilgrims to complete their payments in order to secure their places, warning that as soon as all slots are filled, no additional payments will be accepted.
“NAHCON wishes to inform all intending pilgrims who have yet to complete their Hajj fare payments, as well as other Nigerian Muslims planning to embark on the 2025 Hajj, that the Commission has successfully secured over 52,000 slots for the pilgrimage.
“As a result, registration remains open until the quota is exhausted.
“NAHCON, therefore, urges all interested pilgrims to complete their payments as soon as possible to secure their places. However, once all slots are filled, the Commission will no longer accept any additional payments,” Usara stated.
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