2018 Hajj: FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board begins collection of deposit
The FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has commenced the registration of intending pilgrims for the 2018 Hajj exercise across the six area councils of the territory. A statement from the board’s spokesman, Muhammad Lawal Aliyu, said intending pilgrims who wished to perform the pilgrimage through the board are to present a bank draft of a […]
The FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has commenced the registration of intending pilgrims for the 2018 Hajj exercise across the six area councils of the territory.
A statement from the board’s spokesman, Muhammad Lawal Aliyu, said intending pilgrims who wished to perform the pilgrimage through the board are to present a bank draft of a minimum of N1,000,000 (one million naira) only payable to the FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abuja and their international passports to book for a seat pending the release of the Hajj fare by the Federal Government.
The spokesman also said that the board would not entertain payment by proxy while old timers are to pay an additional two thousand Saudi Riyals (SR2000) for the exercise.
He said all intending pilgrims must be guaranteed by the chief imam of their area council, the traditional ruler or a senior civil servant of not less than GL12 as contained in the guidelines for the registration of 2018 intending pilgrims by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
In addition, according to Lawal, female intending pilgrims would only be registered with their male guide (Mahram) in line with the Saudi Arabian government regulations.
Meanwhile, the area councils’ structure of the board is to be reshuffled to ensure efficiency, proficiency and safeguard against fraud in this year’s hajj exercise.
The Acting Director of the board, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar, disclosed this at the opening of an in-house training for area officers of the board for the registration of the 2018 intending pilgrims.
Abubakar said the measure became necessary to ensure transparency in the registration for the 2018 Hajj exercise and to ensure that intending pilgrims from the territory got the best service in the history of the operation in the FCT.