The Federal Government may be forced to deny many Nigerian muslims aspiring to perform the 2026 hajj rites in Saudi Arabia after the Government reduced the 95,000 slots allocated to the country to 66,910.
The previous quota, which the country had maintained for three years, as gathered, was adjusted by the country due to the inability to exhaust the allocated slots during the 2024 and 2025 hajj rites.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), in a statement by the Deputy Director of Information and Publication, Fatima Usara, said this means earlier seat allocation to states will change and be based on the number of pilgrims they ferried for the 2025 hajj.
“The Mashair space reserved for Nigeria’s pilgrims on the NUSUK Masar portal is actually 66,910 slots for the 2026 Hajj. The implication of this is that while 95,000 slots were allocated to Nigeria, the actual number that can participate in the 2026 Hajj is 66,910. It was revealed that Saudi Arabia reduced Nigeria’s camp slots to this figure on the portal due to underutilization of slots in the previous year.”
She stated that the information was disclosed following a meeting between NAHCON and the states to discuss Hajj Costing and Other Critical Issues.
The Commissioner of Operations, Anofiu Elegushi, said earlier allocations would be reversed based on each state’s utilization during the 2025 Hajj as well.
“In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Usman, called for unity in this assignment for Nigeria’s Hajj operations to succeed again in 2026.
The Chairman reiterated and appealed to State Executive Secretaries to take the issue of medical screening seriously due to the seriousness that Saudi Arabia attaches to it.”
During the meeting, NAHCON disclosed that efforts were ongoing to negotiate reductions in certain cost components, such as cargo handling charges, in order to ease the financial burden on intending pilgrims.
Anafi, however, emphasized that service providers’ rates would not be arbitrarily reduced, since that may affect services that pilgrims are expected to receive.
“A separate engagement was recommended for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reduce its charges on pilgrims. The Board Member representing CBN in NAHCON, Dr. Sikiru Adedeji, at the meeting pledged to convey NAHCON ‘s request to CBN on the possibility of reducing the 2% charge imposed on pilgrims’ transactions.”
The Commission further requested States to submit the number of registered pilgrims to confirm if it is in line with NAHCON’s projections of pilgrims registration.
