Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has been commended for both sanitising Hajj operations and appointing competent people to head the Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency.
The chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council, Alhaji AbdulGafar Alabelewe, gave the commendation when he led officials of the union on a courtesy visit to the agency.
The chairman also described the appointment of Malam Salihu Abubakar as the executive chairman of the agency as putting a square peg in a square hole, adding that his incorruptibility and penchant for due process is needed to move the agency forward.
Alhaji Alabelewe said that Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency recorded a lot of successes during the last Hajj, which include the refund of $50 to each of the 2024 pilgrims who paid for hadiya in Nigeria.
He also mentioned that Kaduna pilgrims got accommodation close to the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, at a price below the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) benchmark.
According to the NUJ chairman, the recent refund of N61,080 to 2023 pilgrims in record time has demonstrated that Malam Salihu and members of his Board were committed to sanitising Hajj exercise.
He also commended the agency for renovating and rehabilitating the pilgrim hajj transit camp in Mando, attributing these successes to the honesty and accountability of the leadership.
The council chairman further pledged the unions continued support in enlightening intending pilgrims and called on journalists to provide the agency with maximum support.
Responding, Malam Salihu thanked the EXCO for the visit and commended journalists for their cordial relationship with the agency. He pledged to strengthen the relationship, advising that they should always crosscheck any information about the agency that is not palatable. “Our doors are open for clarification,” he said.
The executive chairman expressed gratitude to Governor Uba Sani for his support, stating that all that the agency achieved was as a result of his backing.
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