Hajj airlift: Lawmakers query 50% allocation to Saudi airlines

House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the FCT Muslim Pilgrims Board over the 2024 Hajj exercise has queried the allocation of 50 per cent airlift of Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabian airlines.

The panel called on the Federal Government to review the allocation, describing the arrangement as a modern form of colonisation. The lawmakers, who made the call during the resumption of hearing, queried the rationale behind allocating 50 per cent of Nigeria’s pilgrims to foreign airlines.

“Why do we have to give 50 per cent of our pilgrims to a foreign airline? Why do we have foreign airlines airlift our pilgrims?” Chairman of the committee, Sada Soli, queried.

Recall that the Federal Government signed a pact in 2010 with Saudi Arabia that 50 per cent of Hajj passengers would be carried by a Saudi Arabian airline, Flynas.

Prior to that time, the Saudi government collected royalties in lieu of this right, but began to demand an implementation of this right after Nigeria suspended the payment of royalty.

The Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the Nigerian government and Saudi Arabia was that Saudi airlines would airlift pilgrims starting with 25 per cent in 2015; 35 per cent in 2016; 45 per cent in 2017 and 50 per cent in 2018.

The BASA was reportedly signed in 2015 at a meeting held in Jeddah. Soli, who argued that Nigeria had the capacity to airlift its pilgrims, emphasised the need for government and NAHCON to prioritise Nigeria’s interests and support local airlines. He said: “For instance, Air Peace has never been involved in lifting pilgrims, but they have tried and demonstrated readiness and willingness to come on board.

“If you don’t encourage them, they will just get out of this business. They don’t have to rely on the seasonal lifting of pilgrims. And then you will be stuck by relying on foreign airlines.

“I know that Flynas does not go to some airports in this country. There was a time they abandoned Jigawa. They don’t go to Bauchi. They are the ones to choose which airports in the country to go to and you allow them. These are some of the issues that we must be patriotic to defend. I don’t care about whoever will be involved, but let us look at the country first.”

The lawmaker advised NAHCON to provide opportunities for local airlines, which have the financial capacity to bring in aircraft and handle the hajj operations to come on board.

Responding, Commissioner of Operations, NAHCON, Olarewaju Elegushi, explained that the allocation of pilgrims to Saudi airlines was based on instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Aviation.

“We rely on the instructions of the Ministry of Aviation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nigeria can build the capacity to allow our local airlines to do the job,” he said.