The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has approved a total of 110 private tour operators’ companies to airlift 25,000 Nigerian pilgrims for the 2024 hajj.

In a statement on Friday, NAHCON’s Assistant Director of Information, Fatima Sanda Usara, said the selection was after thorough screening of the respective companies who met the requirements for the next year’s Hajj licence.

“Part of documents required for eligibility include certificate of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission, IATA (International Air Transport Association) certificate, IATA accredited staff and principal officers with no record of criminal conviction, presentation of evidence of owning N30m minimum share capital, possession of standard corporate office, evidence of having operated eight years of Umrah successfully or two years of Hajj operations.

“A N25m refundable security deposit must also be submitted. Purpose of this is to protect the interest of the registered pilgrims in case of contract violation or other infringements,” she said.

Usara stated that a total of 155 companies applied with 58 companies initially successful while 97 companies were disqualified but given room for appeal.

“80 companies appealed and out of this number 52 companies met the criteria for qualification making a total of 110 private operator companies that resultantly qualified.”

She however said the commission was holding further discussions with Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah over the ministry’s earlier policy to prune down number of tour operators that will participate in the 2024 Hajj operation from Nigeria and other parts of the world.

Daily Trust reports that the Kingdom had urged Nigeria to present only 10 list of private tour operators for the exercise which the commission is requesting for 100.

This is down from the over 200 operators that participated during the 2023 Hajj operations. (Daily Trust)

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