No fewer than 156 intending pilgrims from Kano State will lose the 2023 Hajj exercise, the State Pilgrims Welfare Agency reveals.
The development according to the agency was due to the over sale of seats by the recently sacked agency officials by the incumbent governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
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The Director General of the agency, Laminu Rabiu while addressing journalists said the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) allocated 6,144 seats to Kano but its officials sold 156 more seats.
He explained that the officials behind the act will be investigated and prosecuted accordingly after the Hajj while appealing to those affected to be patient as he assured them that they will be considered among the first set in the coming Hajj.
Meanwhile, only 2,558 pilgrims have been transported to the holy land by the agency as it awaits allocation of aircraft to the state by the NAHCON in the next few days.