Bauchi State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board will start collecting deposits from intending pilgrims for the 2018 pilgrimage.
Executive Secretary of the board, Abdullahi Hardawa disclosed this in Bauchi while briefing journalists in his office about the Board’s preparations for the 2018 Hajj operations.
He said that intending pilgrims are required to make an initial deposit of N300,000 as against N250,000 collected in 2017 which should be completed in whole or instalments to reach the maximum deposit before the final date.
According to him, intending pilgrims must have a deposit of not less than N1,500,000 before March 9th,2018 which is three days before 12th March, 2018, the date set aside by the National Hajj Commission ( NAHCON) for final remittance by state boards.
Hardawa also added that all intending pilgrims must have a valid Passport with a minimum validity of one year and must also obtain the National Identification Number (NIN) or an National Identity Card.
He however said that where the passport has a validity of less than one year, intending pilgrims should contact the board early for necessary action.
The Executive Secretary said the state registered 3,090 pilgrims in 2017 out of 3,213 seats allocated to it out of which 10 intending pilgrims missed the Hajj for some reasons.
He said that NAHCON has therefore allocated 3,090 seats being the number of intending pilgrims registered in 2017 as 2018 Hajj seats allocation.
He therefore said that the state will strive to meet the allocation which will depend on the number of intending pilgrims who paid fully for the seats.
He said that intending pilgrims will be screened by a committee and their Biometric Data will be captured as directed by NAHCON which must contain all vital information including their medical history.
He informed that where an intending pilgrim is disqualified for any reason, his money will be refunded.
He further informed that many of last year’s pilgrims are yet to collect the money refund for services not rendered to them during the 2017 Hajj.
He therefore any pilgrim who participated in the 2017 Hajj and has not collected his refund money to come to the board and collect or send another person with his particulars to collect the refund for him.
