Hajj Reporters
Controversy has trailed the alleged over allocation of slots to private tour operators in Nigeria for Hajj 2022 operation.
The Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators Of Nigeria( AHOUN) says the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), “over distributed the allotted allocation to Tour Operators by over 1,400 slots”.
It said that as a result of the over allocation, 25 companies cannot access their portals to enable them process entries for their intending pilgrims.
NAHCON had recently announced that 176 Private Hajj operators received a total number of 8, 485 slots. It said 9 companies were given 90 slots each, 3 received 75, 25 others received 70, while the remaining 144 companies received 50 slots each.
AHOUN said several companies were unable to access their portals and they met with the management of NAHCON over the matter on Sunday evening and a numbers of decisions were taken. Chief among them is that all companies will now be scaled down to 50 slots each pending when NAHCON resolves the matter.
This decision did not appear to go down well with some of the tour operators who got the initial higher number of slots.
Some of them who spoke to HAJJ REPORTERS over the telephone said the reduction of their slots from 90 to 50 without prior notice is giving them serious problems.
“Our initial allocation was 90 and we have booked flight tickets for that number. We also made some payments to service providers in Saudi Arabia, now that NAHCON has decided to scale back our slots to 5O. What they did expect us to do at this time?,” one of them said.
Another Hajj Operator who craved for anonymity wondered why NAHCON “failed to get their facts right before allocating slots to Private Operators”. It is not our fault and we should not be made to bear the burden. Why didn’t they get their facts right before the initial allocation?” he queried.
However, the National Publicity Secretary of AHOUN in a message to HAJJ REPORTERS on Monday said “the Commissioner in charge of Finance has been directed to draw a schedule of Funds disbursement immediately to reflect this new re-distribution for onward delivery to Banks in Suadi Arabia and Ma’assah for action”
See Full statement to HAJJ REPORTERS Below:
RESOLUTIONS OF NAHCON/AHUON JOINT MEETING ON 2022 HAJJ OPERATIONS HELD ON 19/06/2022 AT HAJJ HOUSE ABUJA
Salam Alaikum,
As part of the association’s efforts to find a lasting solution to the current slot allocation crisis, a joint meeting between the commission and us was convened at the instance of the association.
The following resolutions were arrived at after lengthy deliberations:
- One hundred and seventy-six Tour operators received allocations from the commission. Out of this number, One hundred and fifty (151) have activated their e-track portal, and the remaining twenty-five (25) companies are locked out.
- The commission received nine thousand and thirty-two slots as the Tour operators share, but for one reason or the other, an allocation of Ten thousand four hundred and thirty-three (10,433) slots were made, in essence, over-shooting the quota by one thousand four hundred and one (1,401)
- Consequently, All the one hundred and seventy-six (176) Tour operators will be activated with 50 Slots, IBAN activated and Funded to enable them to issue visas as an interim arrangement to douse Tension and set machinery in motion for the release of the additional allocation.
- This will leave an outstanding balance of two hundred and thirty-two (232) to be shared on a Pro-rata basis with those companies that have more than 50 seats in the released provisional allocation.
- The Commissioner in charge of Finance has been directed to draw a schedule of Funds disbursement immediately to reflect this new re-distribution for onward delivery to Banks in SAUDI and Ma’assah for action.
- *NAHCON,*at its level, will ensure that every action necessary on their part will be carried out tonight to Fastrack the process.
- Once the additional seat allocation is received, Tour Operators will receive the lion’s share from the figure.
- CEOs of Companies will not be issued with Multiple-Entry visas but Munazeem Card instead on their arrival at the kingdom.
- As part of an extension of the partnership between the commission and Tour operators to ensure the delivery of quality services to pilgrims, the commission will consider co-opting nominees from AHUON in the Hajj Monitoring Team.
- Tour operators are reminded to submit hard and soft copies of their Hajj 2022 package details as contained in a recent circular issued by the commission through the Tour operators unit.
- Additionally, Tour operators are urged to ensure all the passengers/pilgrims filled out the MonkeyPox form and had their PCR test before departure to SAUDI to avoid any issues.
- Tour operators who may have encountered any technical difficulties in accessing their portal can contact Mr Sulaiman, the head ICT of the commission, on the following numbers: 08065588822, 08099444065
Thank you.
Signed
Nasir Chamo Muhammad
National publicity secretary
AHUON
