The House of Representatives has decided to establish an ad-hoc committee to probe the National Hajj Commission regarding the handling of the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage. This decision was reached after the adoption of a motion presented by Mr Mohammed Bio, the representative of Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency in Kwara State, during the House’s plenary session on Tuesday.
The House of Representatives condemned the performance of NAHCON and the FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage. They established an ad-hoc committee to investigate their activities, agents, and sub-agents.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas appointed Sada Soli, the representative of Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency, as the committee’s chairman.
The motion, titled “Urgent need to investigate the National Hajj Commission and the Federal Capital Territory Administration Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, their agents, and sub-agents over inadequate arrangements and mistreatment of Nigerian pilgrims in the 2024 Hajj exercise,” was presented on the floor of the House of Representatives. The motion was regarded as a matter of urgent public importance.
Bio highlighted the importance of the Hajj exercise as a fundamental Islamic obligation. He expressed concern that out of the approximately 50,865 Nigerian Muslim pilgrims under NAHCON’s care in 2024, some were not properly catered for in terms of welfare, organization, guidance, and monitoring, which was below expected standards.
He further noted, “The huge amount paid by the pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj exercise, NAHCON’s 2024 budget allocation, intervention from the Federal Government to the tune of N90bn and support from Government of Saudi Arabia, NAHCON and FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board performed below performance in the 2024 Hajj Exercise especially in Makkah and Mina is unexpected.”
The lawmaker cautioned that, “If this poor performance of NAHCON is not investigated with a view to improve future performance, further Hajj exercise for Nigerian citizens may be more complicated and put the entire country in a bad light in the committee of nations.”
The committee has been given a two-week deadline to submit its report to the House of Representatives, after which further legislative action will be taken.
