4 months ago
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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has set up a special committee to probe the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board over the alleged mishandling of the 2024 Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Tajudeen announced a nine-member committee, chaired by Sada Soli (APC, Katsina), to conduct the investigation during the plenary session on Thursday.
The formation of the committee followed the adoption of a motion moved by Umar Bio (APC, Kwara).
The motion was titled: Urgent need to investigate the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the FCTA Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board over the shoddy arrangement and treatment of Nigerian pilgrims during the 2024 Hajj exercise.”
The last Hajj has attracted criticism from various groups and individuals.
Two governors, Bala Muhammed of Bauchi State and Umar Bago of Niger State openly criticised NAHCON over the execution of the exercise.
Mr Bago vowed to lead a campaign to scrap NAHCON and assign more responsibilities to the states.
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The motion
Moving the motion, Mr Bio accused NAHCON and the FCTA Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board of performing very poorly despite the millions paid by the pilgrims and the N90 billion subsidy provided by the federal government.
He warned that if urgent measures are not taken, NAHCON may continue to poorly handle future exercises.
“About 50,865 Muslim pilgrims across the states in Nigeria were under the care of NAHCON, and some of them were not properly taken care of in terms of welfare, organisation, guidance, and monitoring as expected,” Mr Bio said.
Speaking on the motion, the Minority Whip, Ali Isa (PDP, Gombe), said NAHCON must learn to restrict itself to policies and coordination instead of running the entire operation.
READ ALSO: Hajj 2024: NAHCON airlifts 32,836 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia
He disclosed that he has sponsored a bill to amend the NAHCON Act to address the overbearing powers of the Commission.
The motion was subsequently adopted unanimously, and Mr Tajudeen announced the committee thereafter.
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