Gov. Umaru Bago of Niger has called for the review of activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON)

This is contained in a statement signed by Bologi Ibrahim, the chief press secretary to the  governor in Minna on Sunday.

Mr Bago made the call in an interview with journalists in Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess this year’s Hajj operation.

He expressed concern over the way NAHCON turned itself into an operator of Hajj activities instead of playing  regulatory roles.

The governor, who recounted the hitches pilgrims encountered, described the 2024 Hajj exercise as a failure.

He suggested that Hajj operations should be private sector-driven for effective and efficient service delivery.

Mr Bago said that he will lead a committee of state governors to meet relevant authorities for a review of the commission.

“Let the private sector drive Hajj operations, NAHCON should be a regulator at the centre.

“I am leading a committee of Governors to the Nigeria Governors Forum, from there we go to the NEC.

“I will propose this motion and we will send a bill to the National Assembly where this issue of NAHCON would be reviewed.

“NAHCON is not helping matters, our Federal Government is too big to be worried about Hajj operations, these are supposed to be local government issues and not even State issues”, Mr Bago said.

He said that the state governments should be able to organise  pilgrimage, and engage private agents as it is done in  other countries.

He called for the probe of N90 billion subsidy paid by the federal government for the Hajj operations.

The governor said that in spite the subsidy, some states including Niger still paid some  billions of naira for the exercise.

He alleged that pilgrims were given only 400 dollars to take care of themselves for about 40 days, inspite the payment of N8 million by each pilgrim.

Mr Bago said that the N90 billion would have made more impact if shared to states.

(NAN)