NAHCON Extends Deadline for payment of 2024 Hajj Pilgrimage

National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has extended the deadline for Nigeria’s intending pilgrims to pay fare for the 2024 hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The new deadline is January 31, 2024.

The original deadline for the fare payment was December 31, 2023.

The commission’s acting spokesperson, Fatima Sanda Usara, announced the new deadline in a statement on Tuesday.

She explained that the decision was taken, following intervention by state governors, moslem clerics and states pilgrims’ welfare boards.

According to her, Saudi Arabia has fixed February 25, 2024, for an end to signing all contracts for the 2024 hajj.

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She said the implication of the extended deadline was that Nigeria now have less than a month to fully prepare the 2024 hajj.

Most of the intending pilgrims could not afford the N4.5 million deposit, resulting in low registration far below the 95,000 slots allocated to Nigeria by Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON is confident that before the expiration of the new deadline, with the support of its sister agencies, the Commission would have determined the total cost of the 2024 Hajj.

The extension therefore provides a window for new registrants to do so and by the end of January, those who need to balance up payment would be able to do so as well.

NAHCON seizes this chance to remind intending pilgrims and other stakeholders that the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has slated 25th February as the end date for signing all contracts, signalling the end of payments into IBAN accounts.

With this extension, NAHCON has barely a month to finalize payment of all Hajj deposits into its IBAN account for the 2024 Hajj, the commission stated.

A total of 95,000 Nigerians participated in the 2023 hajj. It is expected that about that number would be in Saudi Arabia for the next hajj.