THE House of Representatives has resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), the Federal Capital Territory Administration Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, their agents and sub agents over the lapses observed in the 2024 Hajj exercise.
This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Rep. Mohammed Umar Bio and presented at the plenary on Thursday.
The lawmaker while presenting the motion, condemned the performance of NAHCON and the FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board in the 2024 Hajj exercise.
He reminded that, Hajj is important in the life of every Muslim and is one of the five pillars of Islam.
According to the lawmaker, NAHCON was set up to provide efficient and effective services to the pilgrims through implementation of NAHCON Act.
Rep. Bio further noted that, for seamless coordination, each state has Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board and the FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board at the FCT.
He added, “About 50,865 Muslim pilgrims across the states in Nigeria were under the care of NAHCON and some of them were not taken care of in terms of welfare, organization, guidance and monitoring as expected.
“The huge amount paid by the pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj exercise, NAHCON’s 2024 Budget Allocation, intervention from the Federal Government to the tune of N90bn and support from Government of Saudi Arabia, NAHCON and FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board’s below performance in the 2024 Hajj Exercise especially in Makkah and Mina was unexpected.
“If this poor performance of NAHCON is not investigated with a view to improving future performance, further Hajj exercise for Nigerian citizens may be more complicated and put the entire country in bad light in the comity of nations”.
