•Demand refund of fees to customers for service not rendered
By Musa Baba Adamu
T
he Association for Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON), has called for the inter ministerial inquest into the activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) over sundry allegations.
In a press statement and signed by its, National President
Alhaji AbdulLateef Ekundayo Yusuf, AHUON accused NAHCON of dabbling into areas it had no powers to and bungling the Hajj exercise.
Accusing the Commission of foisting a service provider, Ithra Alkhair, on the Association, it said this year’s services fell far short of last year’s .
It said its customers were shortchanged in many ways, ranging from insufficient befitting Tents, Food, Convenience, Transportation, calling for the refund on services not rendered to the customers.
It said: “The Commission has turned itself into operator, directly participating and gaining monetary return in any aspect of the operation.”
It further alleged that NAHCON had refused to allow it to try a new Mutawwif despite the failure of the current one year in year out.
“It was on record that last year we searched and recommend 2 new Muttawwif to the Commission for approval, however, we were forced to settled on the same old Muttawwif.”
On the N90bn subsidy granted for the year’s exercise by the Federal Government, AHUON accused the Commission of refusal to avail the private operators with benefits, asking if they were non Nigerians
“We couldn’t release our fares neither market our packages for almost 3 months, however, when the final approval of N90billion subsidy was graciously granted by the FG, up till now we were not call upon by NAHCON to consider the fate of our pilgrims. Are our pilgrims not Nigerians.”
The Association demands that: “the Mutawwif (Ithra Alkhair) should immediately reconcile with our members to refund every single service that wasn’t provided both in Muna and Arafat for this year because of their actions and inactions.
“They should also refund with immediate effect, all our outstanding claims for unutilized visas for the 2022 Hajj and the failed service provision for last year’s Hajj (2023). We are determine not let any of our members loss a dime for services paid and not enjoyed.
“With the new policy of government withdrawal of subsidy on Hajj matters, we wish to call on NAHCON to stop all charges on our members including the dollar equivalent we pay as service fees.
“While we agreed that NAHCON has the right to charge licensing fees, we believe the Hajj license is the most expensive of any licensing regime in Nigeria. How can anyone justify a fee of N1m for a license that has only 2-month validity.
“What happen to the component of the international pilgrims out of the N90b approved Hajj subsidy. Aren’t they Nigerians?
“Our members deserve the right for official visa during Hajj operation, because the Ministry of Hajj provide such as a percentage of the total allocation to Nigeria. Some of the problem our pilgrims face during Hajj can be easily addressed by us if we can move freely.
“The need to investigate the laws and acts that regulates Hajj affairs is very urgent and we implore those saddle with such responsibilities to act now to safeguard the Nigerian Pilgrims.
“Finally, we call on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency set up an inter-ministerial and credible panel to review this year’s Hajj activity with the aim of restoring sanity into the future the operation.”
