By GARBA MUHAMMAD, Kaduna

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

The Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr Yusuf Yakubu Arrigasiyyu, disclosed 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.

Dr Arrigasiyyu made the appeal during a sensitisation meeting organized for the Imams and Ulamas (clerics) from the 23 Area Councils held at Kaduna and Sabon Gari local governments on Tuesday.

According to him, remittance of all Hajj fares of intending pilgrims would be sent to NAHCON on or before December 31, 2023, to enable the Commission plan for next year’s Hajj.

Dr. Alrigasiyyu said that the essence of the sanitisation was to involve all the Imams of the Juma’at Mosques in the state because they are critical stakeholders in Hajj affairs; according to a statement on Wednesday morning, signed Yunusa Muhammad Abdullahi, the Agency's Public Relations Officer.

The Executive Secretary pointed out that the Imams are closer to the intending pilgrims, hence the need to clarify the implication of missing the registration deadline.

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

Dr Arrigasiyyu argued that because of this change, there is the need for all intending pilgrims to register before the end of the December deadline.

In his remarks, the Acting Head of Operations, Alhaji Abubakar Yusuf said that the Agency would continue to collaborate with clerics in educating all intending pilgrims on the new policies introduced by the NAHCON and Saudi Arabian authorities towards transforming Hajj exercise.

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