Abuja – The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) says it has shared the 43,008 2022
hajj slots given to Nigeria by Saudi Arabia to 27 States across the country.
The Chairman, NAHCON, Zikrullah Hassan, disclosed this on Monday in a statement in Abuja.
He the sharing of the slots was done in a way to give all intending pilgrims a fair and transparent opportunity to travel for the Hajj rites.
According to him, the decision to allocate the seats across the country was taken after careful deliberations and considerations of 2019 Hajj performance, particularly as regards the request from Muslims wishing to participate in the exercise.
A breakdown of the seats allocated to states are as follow; Kaduna, 2,491, Kano, 2,229, Sokoto, 2404, Niger, 2256, Katsina, 2146, Kogi, 313, Adamawa, 1166, Kwara, 1406, Lagos, 1562 and FCT, 1538.
Others include are Nasarawa, 684, Taraba, 651, Zamfara, 1303, Yobe, 860, Oyo, 629, Osun, 460, Ogun, 497, Plateau, 824, Bauchi, 1362, Jigawa, 6143, Gombe, 1005, Borno, 1195, Benue, 103, Ekiti, 83, Edo, 94, Ebonyi, 51 and Anambra, 17.
Hassan said that 9,032 slots were allocated to the licenced private tour operators as well as 239 slots to the Armed Forces.
He said that guidelines, particularly as regards health measures were received from Saudi Arabia authorities which all pilgrims must adhere strictly to in order to perform Hajj.
The NAHCON Chairman in the statement further said the commission will conclude all arrangements with service providers by the middle of May, 2022.
“Prior to that, we have received medical guidelines from Saudi Arabia, which we have transmitted to all the states and FCT,”
”Saudi Arabia has indicated that anybody above 65 years must not be allowed to perform Hajj.
“All intending pilgrims must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“By full vaccination I mean the three doses and of course PCR is mandatory.
”Firstly, we are going to run the 2022 hajj on N410 to a dollar as against N306 to a dollar in Hajj of 2019.
“Secondly, Saudi Arabia has increased its Value Added Tax (VAT) from five to 15 per cent.”
”Thirdly and equally very important, recently in a meeting with Saudi authorities they told us 2022 Hajj is going to be expensive because they have invested much in Munah and Arafat. (vitalnews)
