From: Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
The Chairman, House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Nigeria/Saudi Arabia Special Committee on Hajj, Hon. Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, has called on the Federal Government to provide special intervention in terms of dollar sales to intending pilgrims.
He said the gesture would reduce the current Hajj fares to Saudi Arabia. His comment came against the backdrop of complaints by Nigerians over the recent hike of hajj fares to the tune of N1.5 million by the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON).
The lawmaker spoke, in Sokoto, at a press briefing organised for members of the National/State Assembles in the state by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Sokoto State council.
Salame, who represents Gwabadawa/Salame feferal constituency of the state in the National Assembly, attributed the hike in the hajj fares to the depreciation of the nation’s currency.
He noted that the rate of one dollar to the Naira which had reached N370 had affected cost of goods and services in the country.
The lawmaker pointed out that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) fixed N306 per dollar to intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia which made the hajj fares to skyrocket.
Said he, “The Federal Government gave an exchange rate of N306 to a dollar this year and this is on the high side.
”This is why the 2017 Hajj fare for Muslim pilgrims soared to N1.52 million per prospective pilgrim.”
In the same vein, the Chairman of Bureau De Change (BDCs), Operators in the State, Alhaji Aliyu Sahabi Yar-Abba, has also urged the Federal Government to subsidy both Muslim and Christian pilgrimages by 20 per cent.
Sahabi told newsmen, in Sokoto, on Sunday, that the proposed gesture would make pilgrimages more affordable for Nigerians.
He also urged the Federal Ggovernment to approve a much lower dollar exchange rate for the prospective pilgrims and not N306.