The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has urged all intending pilgrims to complete their payments before the final deadline on the 5th of December, 2025, to avoid exclusion from the 2026 pilgrimage. The appeal was made by the Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Sa’adu Hassan, who also serves as an adviser to the NAHCON Chairman. The Executive Secretary explained that NAHCON would no longer allocate Hajj seats to states as previously done, rather, each state’s allocation would depend strictly on the payments made before the deadline. He also expressed concern over the reduction in Hajj slots allocated to Nigeria by Saudi authorities, linking the reduction to the nation’s inability to fully utilise its earlier allocations.
However, after further discussions, there is hope that the number could be increased again if present slots were filled before the deadline. Nigeria was initially given 95,000 slots, which were later reduced to 67,000 and then dropped to 50,000.
News edited by Favour Owonibi