National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON said it has assisted members of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators in Nigeria, AHUON, otherwise known as licenced tour operators to process 12,277 Hajj visas for intending pilgrims from the country for this year’s holy pilgrimage.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the NAHCON’s Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Hajia Fatima Sanda Usara on behalf of the commission’s chairman, Malam Jalal Ahmad Arabi to update the public on the fresh request by the tour operators to facilitate additional transfers into their International Bank Account Number, IBAN accounts to process more travel documents for their clients.
The commission clarified that the 12,277 visas were from the tour operators who remitted their funds early and at the right foreign exchange rate out of the total requests of 13,562 visa applications
It explained that the delay over the outstanding 1,285 visa applications was caused by defaulting tour operators.
NAHCON, however, declared that the fresh request was coming barely few hours before the Saudi Arabia suspends all visa activities for the 2024 Hajj.
The statement reads: “Despite the fact that the Tour Operators’ association (Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators in Nigeria, AHUON) solicited for extension of the registration portal to 31st May 2024, yet, NAHCON approved up to 3rd June out of compassion.
“Still, some of the members continued to plead for further extension of registration to the extent that certain payments were made as late as yesterday 5th June, 2024.
“Without NAHCON’s intervention, please note that Saudi Arabian authorities would not have accommodated further visa processing for any category of Nigerian pilgrim up to this period.
“However, NAHCON did not turn away the tour operators’ appeals for additional payments knowing that they need to serve their clients to remain in business.
“Currently, out of 13,562 visa requests by the private Hajj operators, the Commission was able to intervene with the production of 12,277 visas for such operator companies that remitted their funds early and at the right foreign exchange rate.
“The remaining unprocessed visas correlate with those operators that paid their monies late. Hence, NAHCON accepted to accommodate late transfers with a caveat, that only deposits made by 5th of June will be honored.
“Additionally, that after the payments, they are advised to stay action until the Central Bank of Nigeria approves the Naira to Dollar value rate upon which the private travel companies paid their additional deposits.
“Thirdly, that if the funds value is commensurate with the CBN exchange rate, they must remain hopeful for the Central Bank to successfully transfer their funds into the IBAN account before closure of Hajj registration portal by the Saudi Arabian authority.”
