Saudi Ministry of Hajj has announced the allocation of 95,000 Hajj seats to Nigeria for the 2024 pilgrimage. This was made known during a virtual meeting between National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and its Saudi counterpart, yesterday.

The meeting, which officially marked the start of the 2024 Hajj was attended by the Chairman, House Committee on Hajj, Jafar Mohammed; representative of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Abubakar Sani Bello, and Nigerian Consul-General in Saudi Arabia, Bello Abdulkadir.

Highpoints of discussion were that Nigeria is expected to finalise all arrangements and negotiations with service providers on catering, accommodation and transportation within the next 120 days.

NAHCON will also submit the lists of medical and other officials to the Kingdom very early, as Saudi authorities have plans to work with the two bodies closely; ensure only carriers with, at least, two aircraft on their fleet and a back-up plane are allowed to participate in the Hajj operations.

Leading the Saudi team, Dr Badr Mohammed Al- Somi urged the commission to meet up with the timeline, to enable the ministry to make adequate plan and avoid some of the incidents witnessed in the last Hajj.

“We want all Hajj missions to be proactive in meeting our time frame, so that we won’t allow what happened previously; and also to give the missions sufficient time to examine services before pilgrims’ arrival,” he said.

Earlier in his address, NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, called on Saudi Authorities to expedite action on the refund of feeding and tent services not provided in the Masha’ir.

He further reiterated the need for the Kingdom to disengage from provision of feeding service in the Masha’ir and allow the country to take over Muna and Arafat, to afford pilgrims opportunities to enjoy delicacies they are used to at home.