The Forum of Chief Executive Officers of State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Agencies and Commissions has raised an alarm that thousands of Nigerian intending pilgrims may not perform 2025 Hajj because of the Masha?ir contract cancellation by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

Secretary of the forum and Executive Secretary of Adamawa State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abubakar Salihu, who spoke on behalf of the forum, raised the alarm in an interview with journalists on Sunday.

The forum comprises all the chief executives of the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Agencies and Commissions in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Salihu said cancellation of the contract signed with Saudi service provider Mashariq AL-Dhahabiah may deny Nigerians visa for the 2025 Hajj, thereby barring them from the Muslims holy pilgrimage.

?It has become necessary and expedient to inform the general public that should Nigerian intending pilgrims miss out in 2025 Hajj, they should hold NAHCON chairman responsible. They should not blame the state pilgrims boards. The NAHCON chairman should be blamed,? the forum?s secretary said.

Mr Salihu lamented that ?it is unfortunate that after painstakingly selecting and signing Masha?ir contract agreement with Mashariq Al- Dhahabiah, the NAHCON chairman single-handedly cancelled the contract via electronic portal.?

He said the cancellation of the Masha?ir contracts would deny Nigerian pilgrims access to process their visa in the Saudi E-Tract platform, thereby denying them the right to perform Hajj which they have paid for.

The forum secretary explained that the forum leadership met with NAHCON executives between January 15 ? 17, to select Mashariq Al- Dhahabiah to serve state quota pilgrims in Muna, Arafat and Muzdalifah; the selected Rawaf Mina to serve VIP pilgrims.

?After the meeting, NAHCON signed the contract and gave the service provider the go-ahead to execute it.

Mashariq Al-Dhahabiah went ahead and reflected the contact in various Saudi Arabian Hajj agencies platforms. ? that includes NUSUK and E-Tract,? he said.

He said that, ?it is therefore appalling to just woke up and realise that the contracts we spent days to work on and approve had been cancelled without recourse to us. This is unacceptable.?

The forum wondered why NAHCON would allow the tour operators, with less than 20 percent of Nigerian pilgrims, to pick a service provider of their choice, and deny the states with over 80 percent of the 95,000 pilgrims to pick their choice.

Mr Salihu said Mashariq Al-Dhahabiah would certainly go for arbitration for the violation of the contract agreements it signed with Nigeria, which may jeopardize Nigerian pilgrims participation in 2025 Hajj.

He said the service provider was selected out of five others after three days of thorough and careful cost and material analysis.

The state pilgrims boards and NAHCON?s selection of Mashariq Al-Dhahabiah has made it possible to secure a $200 reduction for each pilgrim in the Hajj fare.

Based on the contracts signed with service providers, NAHCON was expected to make payments as soon as it uploads funds to its portal.

About 50,000 Nigerians are expected to perform this year?s Hajj under the state quota; with another quarter of that number under the tour operators quota.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Hajj commission, Fatima Sanda Usara, couldn?t comment because she wasn?t briefed on the issue. (Daily Trust)

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