SOME hajj administrators and intending pilgrims have rejected the decision of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to arbitrarily deduct $100 from the Basic Traveling Allowance (BTA) of 75,000 Nigerian pilgrims.
This newspaper gathered that some of the officials from the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards have vowed to go any length to stop the commission from deducting the BTA, saying it is “arbitrarily and illegal.”
On Monday, NAHCON officially announced that it will deduct $100 from the BTA of the 75,000 pilgrims and pay to the four local airlines – Max Air, Air Peace, Azman Air and Aero Contractors – that sought air ticket fare rise because of the war in Sudan.
However, a Saudi Arabian – designated airline, Flynas, which was allocated 40 percent of the Nigerian pilgrims based on BASA agreement, was the only hajj air carrier that signed the pre-Sudan conflict airlift agreement.
The officials who spoke in confidence said they were appalled by the hajj commission’s decision to deduct the BTA of 28,515 pilgrims allocated to Flynas in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Niger, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states even though the foreign air carrier didn’t demand for hajj fare increment like the local ones did.
“The deduction, is at best, illegal and against business best practices, and we have vowed to deploy all legitimate mechanisms to stop this illegality,” an official from one of the states affected said.
Another pilgrims board official from the Southwest said, “NAHCON’s hajj fare template for 2023 includes $800 as BTA component. That is what prospective pilgrims subscribed to. Why is NAHCON then deducting the BTA arbitrarily? This is a clear breach of contract.”
An intending pilgrim who declined being named for fear of backlash said, “It is disheartening that NAHCON is taking us for granted. This is unfair and we’ll resist it. Slashing our BTA, instead of seeking alternatives to the air carriers, is uncalled for.”
Also, a coalition of anti-corruption civil society organizations has vowed to drag the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related matters Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the matter.
The coalition, under the auspices of the Movement for Greater Nigeria and Good Governance (MGNGG), said, “It is surprising the NAHCON’s resolve to rob Paul and pay Peter, by forcefully and illegally deducting the BTA of the pilgrims from these nine states just to settle the fares of pilgrims from other states. This is a business aberration that is pregnant with myriad questions that only the EFCC and ICPC can squeeze the answers from the officials of the commission.”
The anti-graft CSOs revealed this in a statement signed by their Advocacy Director Tokunbo Lasisi and Communications Lead Batool Sahib, and released on Thursday in Abuja said, “It is evident that NAHCON, despite prodding by the media and other hajj stakeholders, has repeatedly refused to explain the rationale behind the deduction of over $2.85 million from the BTA of Flynas pilgrims and share it to other airlines. We don’t know which business model is this,” the coalition said.
They said the hajj commission’s failure to explain why it excluded Flynas as a beneficiary of the deductible funds from its allocated pilgrims exposed “a sinister agenda that is suspect. That is what we want EFCC and ICPC to probe urgently.”
