The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has successfully secured spaces for 52,544 conventional pilgrims at the Masahir (Sacred places) in Saudi Arabia, completing necessary payment on Thursday before the deadline.

NAHCON also advanced payments for 4,601 unconventional pilgrims at Tent D on behalf of private tour operators at Masahir to enable seamless spiritual exercise.

The payments cover camp provisions, feeding and transportation to pilgrims during their five days of devotion at Mina, Arafah, and Musdalifah.

The fulfillment of all these critical processes and requirements had finally defused tension and cleared impending bottlenecks that could have hindered Nigerians from performing the much-awaited pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON disclosed that its chairman, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman, on Wednesday, paid for 26,287 pilgrims’ spaces in Mashair. NAHCON subsequently secured reserved for additional 26,000 spaces with a commitment to settle payments on Thursday.

Spokesperson of the commission, Fatima Sanda Usara, on Thursday indicated that NAHCON has fulfilled it’s commitment and advanced further to bail out the tour operators ahead of time.

“It would be recalled that transferring of funds to Tour Operators’ IBAN accounts had been a source of concern in recent years, preventing some operators from accessing visa for all their pilgrims,” she said.

“This measure to advance payment on the PTO’s behalf was approved by the Professor Abdullahi Saleh-led board to prevent the closure of contracts on the NUSUK MASAR portal from hampering the operator’s access to visa.

“The approval ensures that Nigerian pilgrims under private tour operators have guaranteed access to visa processing and Mashair camp accommodation during the upcoming Hajj.”

Usman expressed appreciation to the Vice President for his support, confidence, and non-interference in the Commission’s operations, which have enabled swift and decisive action in preparing the grounds for a smooth Hajj process for 2025 Nigerian pilgrims.