President Bola Tinubu has ordered the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to urgently review and reduce the cost of the 2026 Hajj fares earlier announced by the commission.
The directive was disclosed on Monday by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadeija, while briefing State House Correspondents after a meeting with NAHCON officials at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
NAHCON had earlier fixed the 2026 Hajj fare at N8,318,336.67 for the Maiduguri-Yola Zone (Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba), N8,244,813.67 for Northern States, and N8,561,013.67 for Southern States, respectively.
Hadeija said, “This meeting was essentially called at the instance of His Excellency, the Vice-President, to look at the possibility of reducing the Hajj fare for the 2026 pilgrimage.”
He explained that the Hajj fare component is largely foreign exchange-based, stating, “The fares announced by the NAHCON were based on a very pessimistic exchange rate of N1,550. And the rates have continued to improve steadily with the naira appreciating based on the effects of the economic reforms of the government taken place.”
According to him, the vice-president noted that since pilgrims last year paid between N8.5 and N8.6 million under a weaker exchange rate, they should now benefit from the improved naira value.
He continued, “Then we should also pass the benefits to them, and all the officers of the Hajj commission are here, and they have been told to immediately go to look at more realistic exchange rates. If they apply, we should be able to bring the Hajj fare to N7.6 to N7.7 million. The final figure will be announced in the next two days.”
Hadeija added that early remittance of funds by State Muslim Pilgrim Welfare Boards would aid quicker dollar purchases through the Central Bank of Nigeria, thereby ensuring lower fares.
He said, “The faster the pilgrims pay their Hajj fares and they are remitted to the Hajj commission, the faster they can pass it to the Central Bank of Nigeria to buy the dollars for them. So, if we achieve that, we foresee a situation where pilgrims this year will have a very significant reduction in the Hajj rate.”
Speaking, the Secretary of NAHCON, Dr Mustapha Mohammad, said, “It is a welcome development and the lower the Hajj fare is, the more Muslims will have the opportunity of performing the Hajj.
“So, as directed by the vice-president, we will work tirelessly between today and tomorrow to see that we reduce it to an affordable rate where every Muslim will have the opportunity to perform this very important pillar of Islam.”
