By Olugbenga Salami
A faith-based Civil Society Organization, CSO, in the Hajj and Umrah Industry, the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, has once again appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the 36 state governors to bail out Nigerian intending pilgrims from missing out on participating in the 2026 Hajj.
The group, in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammad who is currently attending the 5th Hajj and Umrah conference taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said that any amount approved as a loan will be refunded to the state governments immediately after pilgrims pay their fares.
It lamented that is the first time in 20 years that the Nigerian Hajj quota is being slashed from 95,000 to 66,000, warning that further reduction is looming.
“The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has given the Nigerian Hajj authorities two weeks (14 days) to make all necessary payments for its allocated slots as was done by other countries.
“The Ministry threatens to further reduce the Nigerian Hajj quota from the downgraded slots of 66,000 to 50,000 if the Nigerian Hajj Mission fails to comply with the requirements,” the IHR stated.
It, therefore, urged President Tinubu to help rally state governors to immediately approve a loan that will cover the allocation to their states and to also make the funds available to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON to enable the commission to make the necessary payments within the specified period.
“Failure to assist will demote Nigeria from one of the major Hajj participating countries, and the country will permanently be placed on 50,000 slots because other countries are currently applying for an increase in their quota,” the statement said.
IHR recalled that the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, had set December 21, 2025, as the deadline for payment for Mashaa’ir Camp fees on Nusuk Wallet while January 4, 2026 was scheduled for all Hajj participating countries to finalise payments for camps and services, noting that the process of making payments on the Nusuk app takes time.
It explained that the situation becomes critical because its finding reveals that the number of intending pilgrims that have so far registered falls below 20,000 nationwide, putting NAHCON in a difficult position.
The CSO noted that the “late and sluggish pre-Hajj preparations contributed to the decline in numbers of registered pilgrims, coupled with our penchant to always wait till the tail end of the month of Ramadan before pilgrims will be rushing to make payments.”
