The private hajj operators, under the umbrella of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON), have urged Professor Abdullahi Usman’s new leadership of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to address all pending issues relating to the 2024 operations, including outstanding refunds of caution deposits and development levy, among others, before the invitation to bid for the 2025 Hajj licence.
The national president of AHOUN, Abdullateef Ekundayo, made the demand in his response to the paid advertorial in a national daily by NAHCON seeking application for 2025 Hajj licence and slot allocation from travel agencies, saying it is strange that the commission will place a public notice for a new bid while the book of the 2024 Hajj has not been properly closed as far as tour operators are concern.
Ekundayo explained that in the build up to the 2024 Hajj, the commission promised it would refund all caution deposits immediately after Hajj, but up till now nothing has been done about it and called on the commission to set aside at least two weeks to start the processes of refunding tour operators including the N25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Naira) caution deposit, the 2023 development levy as agreed and graciously approved by the last management and other outstanding funds immediately.
“However, while we appreciate the zeal of the Commission to open a new book for the 2025 Hajj operation on time, we feel it is important to draw its attention to the fact that the book of the 2024 Hajj has not been properly closed as far as Tour Operators are concerned.
“Therefore our expectation was that the Commission will address all pending issues relating to the 2024 operations before the invitation to bid for the 2025 Hajj license.
“Fistly, in the build up to the 2024 Hajj, the Commission promised that unlike previous years, it will refund all caution deposits immediately after Hajj. In fact, a three weeks timeline was given by the management of the Commission. It is therefore strange to us that the commission will place a public notice for a new bid while the pending issues have not been concluded.
“For your information, there are some of our members that have not been paid of their 2023 caution deposits of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira Only) uptill today. We therefore call on the Commission to set aside at least 2 weeks to start the processes of refunding Tour Operators including the N25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Naira) caution deposit immediately.
“Secondly, Sir, our members have reportedly complained about several amounts of money being trapped with the Commission’s finance department dating back many years despite several demands. In fact, we tabled these requests with the Commission severally and once agreed that a list of such outstanding refunds will be published by the Commission and invite the agencies to come forward for their refunds. It is our opinion that there is no better time than now. We want to start on a clean sheet with the Commission. We demand payment of all genuine claims owed our members by the Commission before the call for another round of bidding,” AHOUN boss said.
The association also frowned on the 100 percent increment in the caution deposit from N25,000,000.00 (twenty-five million naira) to N50,000,000.00 without any consultation with the stakeholders.
“Finally, we notice the increase in the caution deposit this year to N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira Only) by the Commission. Needless to mention, we always recognize the statutory right of the Commission to exercise its regulatory powers in ensuring optimum performance of the Hajj operations. However, we wish to remind the Commission that Hajj management requires consultation, discourse and the input of critical stakeholders which we believe to represent. During the last increase to N25,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira Only) we were carried along and we are proud of the role we played in ensuring the success of the policy implementation.”
