Kaduna Hajj agency seeks support of clerics on payment of deposit

Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency has appealed to Muslim clerics to assist in educating all intending pilgrims on the need to hasten the payment of Hajj deposit in order to meet the Dec. 31, 2023 deadline.

The Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Yusuf Arrigasiyyu, made the appeal during a sensitization meeting organised for the Imams and Ulamas from the 23 Local Government Areas held on Kaduna from Monday to Tuesday.

This is contained in a statement issued by the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Malam Yunusa Abdullahi on Wednesday in Kaduna.

Abdullahi quoted Arrigasiyyu as disclosing that the December deadline has been pegged by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) as the final date for registering intending pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj.

According to him, remittance of all Hajj fares of intending pilgrims must be sent to NAHCON on or before Dec. 31, to enable the commission plan for next year’s Hajj.

He said the essence of the sanitisation was to involve all the Imams of the Juma’at Mosques in the state, adding,” because they are critical stakeholders in Hajj affairs.”

Arrigasiyyu also pointed out that the Imams were closer to the intending pilgrims, hence the need to clarify the implication of missing the registration deadline.

According to him,based on the new guidelines, the issuance of visas would commence two months before the Hajj operations, saying that the Saudi Arabian Hajj calendar has changed.

Arrigasiyyu said, “Because of this change, there is the need for all the intending pilgrims to register before the end of the December deadline.”

Also, the the acting Head of Operations, Abubakar Yusuf, said that the agency would continue to collaborate with the clerics in educating all the intending pilgrims on the new policies introduced by the NAHCON and Saudi Arabian authorities towards transforming Hajj exercise.