Governor Umaru Bago of Niger State has described the 2024 Hajj exercise as a failure.
He called for the review of activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), even as he also called for the probe of the N90 billion subsidy paid by the Federal government for the Hajj operations.
This is contained in a statement signed by Bologi Ibrahim, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in Minna on Sunday.
According to the statement, Bago made the call in an interview with newsmen in Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while assessing this year’s Hajj operation.
He expressed concerns over the alleged way “NAHCON turned itself to an operator of Hajj activities instead of playing regulatory roles.”
The governor, who recounted the hitches pilgrims encountered, described the 2024 Hajj exercise as a failure.
He suggested that Hajj operation should be private sector-driven for effective and efficient service delivery.
Bago said that he will lead a Committee of state governors to meet relevant authorities for a review of the commission.
“Let the private sector drive Hajj operations, NAHCON should be a regulator at the centre.
“I am leading a committee of Governors to the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, from there we go to the NEC.
“I will propose this motion and we will send a bill to the National Assembly where this issue of NAHCON would be reviewed.
“NAHCON is not helping matters, our Federal Government is too big to be worried about Hajj operations, these are supposed to be local government issues and not even State issues”, Bago said.
He said that the state governments should be able to organise pilgrimage, and engage agents from the private as it is done in other countries.
The governor said that in spite the subsidy, some states including Niger still paid some billions of naira for the exercise.
He alleged that pilgrims were given only 400 dollars to take care of themselves for about 40 days, inspite the payment of N8 million by each pilgrim.
Bago said that the N90 billion would have made more impact if shared to states.(NAN)
