The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has instructed State Pigrims’ Welfare Boards to finish putting intending pilgrims into groups of 45 people, and uploading their information to the e-Track Portal, by this Friday.
The commission explained that the order was to make it easier to give out visas and to follow the Saudi authorities' rule that requires pilgrims to be in groups of 45 before they can get visas.
This information was in a statement signed by NAHCON’s Deputy Director of Information & Publications Division, Mousa Ubandawaki, on Monday.
The commission had previously announced that 51,477 people had signed up for the 2024 Hajj exercise under the government quota.
This came after 48,414 pilgrims who had paid N4.9m initially were asked to pay an additional N1.9m due to the current foreign exchange rate.
Ubandawaki, in his statement, advised pilgrims who want to be in a group to go to their state welfare boards to make sure they are all in a single group of 45, because the groups will do all Hajj activities together, including travel and accommodation.
“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) advises State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, Commissions, and Agencies to finish grouping pilgrims into groups of 45 and uploading data to the e-Track Portal by Friday, 26th, 2024.
NAHCON is also telling all pilgrims who want to travel together in specific groups to go to their state welfare boards to get grouped, as this is the only way to travel with those you prefer.
It should be noted that these groups of 45 will always do their Hajj activities together; from leaving Nigeria, staying in Makkah and Madinah, performing Masha’ir activities, and returning to Nigeria,” the statement partly read.
The commission also mentioned that this directive is the “last chance” given by the Saudi authorities for organizing group travels for the Hajj operations.
They also said that after the deadline, “pilgrims will have to stay with the group members they selected and their visas will all be together”.
