The Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has approved the refund of Hajj fees to intending pilgrims from the state who could not perform this year’s Hajj.
The Chairman Oyo State Pilgrims Welfare Board (Muslim’s Wing), Professor Sayed Malik disclosed this on Wednesday while featuring on a live radio interview program ‘Oro to Nlo” on Oluyole FM.
Professor Malik added the repayment will be made without any deduction.
Recall that that 150 intending pilgrims from Oyo State were prevented from going on a holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year while over 600 others were permitted to perform the Hajj exercise.
“The inability of 150 intending pilgrims from the Oyo State to perform this year’s Hajj is painful and regretted. Governor Makinde sympathized with the affected intending pilgrims. His Excellency has therefore approved that any of the intending pilgrims who demanded a refund of his Hajj fees should be paid back in full without any deduction”, he said in response to a question on the live radio program.
The Chairman of the State Pilgrims Welfare Board (Muslim’s Wing) further assured that any of the rejected pilgrims who intends to perform next year’s Hajj will be given priority over new applicants.
Professor Malik, who attributed the inability of the intending pilgrims to perform the 2022 Hajj to non issuance of visas by the Saudi Arabian government, however blamed the situation on the inefficiency of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Saudi Arabian government’s strict anti COVID 19 protocols.
The Professor of Arabic Studies however assured that the challenges which marred this year’s Hajj exercise would not be allowed to re-occur in 2023.
“The challenges experienced this year will be taken care in next year’s exercise. But I want to appeal to the Hajj officials in Saudi Arabia to allow for early commencement of Hajj operations next year. This is the best way to avert the recurrence of problems we encountered this year”, Professor Malik said.
