The Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), a faith-based Civil Society Organization (CSO) in the Hajj and Umrah Industry, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and governors to bail out Nigerian intending pilgrims from missing out on participating in the 2026 Hajj.

In a statement, IHR’s national coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammad, said the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has given the Nigerian Hajj authorities two weeks (14 days) to make all necessary payments for its allocated slots as was done by other countries.

“The Ministry threatens to further reduce the Nigerian Hajj quota from the downgraded slots of 66,000 to 50,000 if the Nigerian Hajj Mission fails to comply with the requirements”.

This is the first time that the Nigerian Hajj quota is being slashed to 66,000, and further reduction is looming. Nigerian Hajj Quota in the last 20 years stood at 95,000.

IHR urged President Tinubu to help rally state governors to immediately approve a loan that will cover the allocation to their states and to also make the funds available to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to enable the commission to make the necessary payments within the specified period.

“Failure to assist will demote Nigeria from one of the major Hajj participating countries, and the country will permanently be placed on 50,000 slots because other countries are currently applying for an increase in their quota,” the statement said.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj had set December 21, 2026, as the deadline for payment for Mashaa’ir Camp fees on Nusuk Wallet.

It also schedules the 4th of January 2026 for all Hajj participating countries to finalise payments for Camps and services. It should be noted that the process of making payments on the Nusuk app takes time.

The CSO said that any amount approved as a loan would be refunded to the State Governments immediately after pilgrims pay their fares.

The CSO said it acknowledged that the “late and sluggish pre-hajj preparations contributed to the decline in numbers of registered pilgrims, coupled with our penchant to always wait till the tail end of the Month of Ramadan before pilgrims will be rushing to make payments”. (Daily Trust)