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The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) will shortchange 2026 intending pilgrims N33.5 billion in exchange rate alleged racket despite claims of reducing N19 billion in Hajj fare.
Findings by this newspaper revealed that the Hajj commission has pegged the 2026 Hajj fare using N1555/$ exchange rate benchmark, instead of the subsisting CBN rate of N1455/$, thereby over-charging every pilgrim an average of N524,000 each.
About 66,910 pilgrims are expected to perform the Hajj next year under the state quota.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, said on Friday in Kano that the commission had secured a total discount of N19 billion — N200,000 per pilgrim — after intensive negotiations with Saudi service providers.
In another interview with the BBC Hausa Service aired on Saturday morning, October 5, 2025, Mr Pakistan said Nigerian the 66,910 intending pilgrims would enjoy N200,000 reduction each.
Earlier on September 26, 2025, the Hajj commission had announced the 2026 Hajj fare through a statement signed by the management and released by its spokesperson Fatima Usara.
The NAHCON statement reads: “After due consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, including the Forum of States leadership and obtaining the approval of the Federal Government, the Chairman/CEO National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Professor Abdullahi Sale Usman, hereby announces the 2026 Hajj Fare as follows:
“1. Maiduguri Yola Zone (Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, and Taraba) will pay; N8,118,33.67
- Other Northern States will pay: N8,244,813.67
- Southern States will pay: N8,561,013.67
‘Compared to what was charged last year, this year, each pilgrim is to pay an average of two hundred thousand naira less.”
However, investigations by this newspaper’s thorough review of Mr Pakistan’s press briefing and BBC Hausa interview, NAHCON press statement, official documents, among others, have shown that the Hajj commission claims of fare reduction was not true. It was discovered that the out of the 24 Hajj components for 2026, only three changed — one downward and two upward. The cost of Masha’ir service was reduced by 150 Saudi riyal ($40), while the Madinah accommodation rose up by $51.52, and suitcase increased by N30,000.
Therefore, contrary to the Hajj commission’s claims, the cost of Hajj dollar component of the Hajj fare, without BTA, mhas gone up by at least $11.75, that is from $4,636.20 to $4,647.95 for northern states; $4,921.80 to $4,933.55 for southern states, and from $4,636.20 to $4,647.95 for Maiduguri zone. Also, the naira component rose by N30,000, from N70,000 in 2025 to N100,000 in 2026. Further findings have shown that the Masha’ir reduction of $40 has been swallowed by the Madinah hotels increase of $51.52. In total, the 2026 Hajj fare has risen unlike the NAHCON’s claims, by at least N47,825 ($11.50 + N30,000).
Official documents reviewed by this newspaper also showed that the cost of Madinah accommodation in 2026 is 1,248 Saudi riyal ($332.98) for
13,000 bed spaces at the N1,550/$1 exchange rate. For 2025 Hajj, the cost of 11,000 bed spaces was 1,054.90 Saudi riyal ($281.46) at the N1,600/$1exchange rate.
The claims of N200,000 reduction for every pilgrim through intensive negotiations is also false. The only reduction recorded was the exchange rate differential, courtesy the naira stability made possible by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s efforts which makes the naira regaining its strength against the dollar. The exchange rate used by NAHCON in computing the dollar component is N1,550/$1 against the 2025’s N1,600/$1. The reduction was recorded in the N50 difference which translates to N232,297, not even the N200, 000 as announced by the commission. There is also a problem with Mr Pakistan’s arithmetic because N200,000 by 66,910 is roughly N13 billion, not N19 billion.
EXCHANGE RATE DIFFERENTIAL
Another loophole uncovered in the Hajj commission’s Hajj fare package was the use of N1,550/$1 exchange rate at a time the CBN official rate was N1,455/$1, thereby shortchanging the 66,910 intending pilgrims over N33.3 billion. This means that each pilgrim traveling from the Northern states will be shortchanged N505,327; Southern states (N524,707); and those from Maiduguri zone N497,575. Further analysis revealed that if the Hajj commission had used the subsisting exchange rate of N1,455/$1, pilgrims from southern states would pay N8,036,306.31; while their northern counterparts pay N7,739,486.38; and those from Maiduguri/Yola zone paying N7,620,758.38.
Mr Pakistan claimed in the BBC Hausa interview that the cost he got for Masha’ir in 2026 is the best for Nigeria in the last 20 years. This claim cannot be true because the Masha’ir services started as a full package under Mu’assasah in 2022. Before 2022, the Mu’assasah only provided tents and associated services, while the Hajj commission selected caterers for feeding. It is surprising that Mr Pakistan is not aware of this to the extent of making that big lie in international radio.
NAHCON SERVICE CHARGE
Further investigations have shown that the cost of a Hajj seat for 2026 holy pilgrimage in Nigeria would have been far lower than the N8.56 million announced, if not for the imposed service charge and other charges the NAHCON deliberately refused to remove from the package. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has fixed N8.56 million as the Hajj fare for 2026— but investigations through analysis of official documents — has shown that Nigerians can still play as low as N6.7 million if only the commission is ready to do the right thing.
Further checks by this newspaper have shown that if the Hajj commission has removed its exorbitant service charge from the announced Hajj fare, the 2026 fare would have been further brought down to at least N6.7 million. Official documents obtained from NAHCON and analysed by our reporters have revealed that the Hajj commission is currently billing every pilgrim a total of $224.59 as service charge, which translates to N348,114 at N1,550/$1. If this service charge is discounted from the announced Hajjj fare, it will bring down the 2026 Hajj fare to N6,730,001 for Maiduguri zone, N6,856,484 for other Northern states, and N7,172,684 for Southern states.
Alternatively, the 2026 Hajj fare can still be reduced drastically if the NAHCON leadership reverts to the pre-2022 service charge template. Official data cited by our reporters have shown that $133.40, equivalent to N206,770 at N1,550/$ was the service charge pilgrims paid between 2015 to 2019. With this service charge, the Hajj commission can still bring down the current Hajj fare to N6,936,771 for Maiduguri zone, N7,063,254 for Northern states, and N7,379,254 for Southern states.
Our reporters discovered that the commission, under Barr Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammad, had conducted successful Hajj operations by charging only $133.40 service charge, and without receiving a single penny from the federal government during the 2019 Hajj.
However, the reverse was the case between 2023 to 2025, this newspaper understands. Despite charging $224.59, Mr Zikirullah collected N25 billion bailout from the federal government to augment airlines payments in 2023 even though pilgrims paid fully the Hajj fare package, including air fare in time.
The situation was the same in 2024 under Mr Jalal Ahmad Arabi, who got N90 billion Hajj subsidy from the federal government despite the $224.59 service charge.
Under Mr Pakistan’s watch in 2025 Hajj, NAHCON padded its budget by N5 billion, in connivance with the National Assembly, and requested N6 billion operational funds from the government, but still went ahead and charged pilgrims $224.59 as service charge. Majority of stakeholders who are conversant with the presence of the commission said the NAHCON should revert to pre-
BREACH OF NAHCON ACT
To start with, the announcement of the Hajj fare by the commission is an abuse of its regulatory mandate enshrined in the NAHCON Establishment Act of 2006.
Section 4, subsection A (1) of the act states that the commission shall license, regulate, supervise, and perform oversight functions on all organisations and associations involved in coordinating the transportation of pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Umrah.
The act did not mandate the Hajj commission to perform an operational role of fixing and announcing Hajj fares for intending pilgrims.
Many Hajj stakeholders are perplexed by the NAHCON leadership’s abdication of its primary role of regulation. Since the commission assumed the role of state pilgrims’ boards, they are licensed; the question many stakeholders are asking is, when will NAHCON announce the Hajj fare of approved tour operators?
Findings by this newspaper have shown that this abuse of the NAHCON Act was stopped between 2015 and 2019, during the 3rd Board led by Barr. Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammad.
During that time, states individually announce their Hajj fares after presenting and defending them before the Hajj Commission, as provided for in the law.
UNIFORMITY OF HAJJ FARE
The second loophole uncovered by this newspaper in the NAHCON Hajj fare announcement is the uniformity of all the Hajj fare components, with the exception of the airfare. This is believed by analysts as unfair and insensitive. Just like there is disparity in the cost of air tickets because of the location of the states, observers said, there must be differentials in the cost of Makkah and Madinah accommodations because of their location, proximity to Haram, services, facilities, among others.
However, what the Hajj commission did was to lump up the cost of different types of accommodation, located at various places with varying types of services and facilities into one.
Investigations have shown that, for instance, the 3,000 Saudi riyal benchmark set by the commission for Makkah accommodation in 2025 was fraudulent. This is because these accommodations are not the same in terms of facilities, distance to Haram, location, and quality of services. As such, there cannot be a benchmark for accommodations that are not the same from a qualitative and quantitative point of view.
The actual cost of some of these accommodations used by Nigerians, as paid by other countries who stayed in similar accommodations, ranges between 1,500 and 2,000 Saudi riyal, or at maximum 2,200 Saudi riyal, it was revealed. In fact, even some NAHCON staff had secured their own accommodations within the same vicinity at the rate of 1,500 Saudi riyal for the whole hajj season.
Our reporters learned that even tour operators with smaller numbers of pilgrims had negotiated for 1,500 to 1,800 Saudi riyal per pilgrim in the same vicinity. Further checks have shown that if the states were allowed to hire houses based on their individual qualities and location, an average of 700 to 800 Saudi riyal (about $200 or N298,400) would have been discounted for each pilgrim.
$250 AIR TICKET INCREASE
Investigations have found out that another N373,000 would have been deducted from the Hajj fare if NAHCON is truly sincere about bringing down the cost of Hajj. This newspaper reports that during the 2023 Hajj, the airfare was increased by $250 (about N373,000 now) per pilgrim due to the security situation in Sudan, as the airlines would have to take a longer route. It was only Flynas that did not ask for the additional $250 but went ahead to ferry its pilgrims successfully. The airfare addition of $250 should be deducted — since some airlines like Flynas didn’t seek for increment despite the situation— so the airfare for the 2026 Hajj should be $1,470.
This newspaper recalls that to raise the additional $250 for the local airlines that sought the increment, Mr Zikirullah deducted $100 from the $800 BTA of all the state pilgrims and shared it among the four local airlines – Max Air, Air Peace, Azman Air and Aero Contractors —that refused to sign the airlift agreement because of the Sudan conflict.
The Saudi Arabian-designated airline Flynas, which was the only carrier that signed the agreement despite the conflict in Sudan, was surprisingly excluded from the sharing, even though its over 28,000 allocated pilgrims from Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Niger, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states will be affected by the $100 deduction.
NAHCON’S SERVICE CHARGE ENOUGH TO FUND 2026 HAJJ
A thorough review of the official data has indicated that the Hajj commission can still conduct the 2026 Hajj with the revenue it will generate from service charge. With an estimated 50,000 pilgrims in 2026 —40,000 state quota, and 10,000 tour operators — the commission can generate N14,699,580,000 (N14.7 billion) through the $224.59 service charge per pilgrim. Also, by charging the pre-2022 service charge of $133.40, NAHCON can still generate N9,200,800,000 (N9.2 billion) which is enough to conduct the 2026 Hajj without recourse to federal funding, with reasonable number of medical, media, and ulama teams as well as a substantial number of its dedicated staff.
NAHCON WITHHOLDS BILLIONS OF NAIRA MEANT FOR PILGRIMS REFUND
On the 2025 Hajj midwifed by Mr Pakistan, findings have shown that every state quota pilgrim who participated is due for N156,533.87 refund from the Hajj exchange rate differential. It could be recalled that the Hajj commission charged all pilgrims at the rate of N1,600/$1 for the 2025 Hajj, while at the stage of transferring funds, the CBN rate was about N1,570/$1. A total of 41,218 pilgrims participated in the 2025 Hajj through the state quota, meaning that a total of over N6.4 billion is owed by NAHCON as refunds to pilgrims. This means that every pilgrim that used the Maiduguri/Yola departure centre is entitled to N144,086 refund; N156,534 for other Northern states pilgrims; and N162,654 for Southern states pilgrims.
ZIKIRULLAH’S $100 SCANDAL OF 2023
Also, another refund yet to be distributed to the pilgrims is the $100 deducted each from the over 28,000 pilgrims transported by Flynas during the 2023 Hajj – over the crisis in Sudan. The Flynas pilgrims’s BTA were deducted even though the Saudi airline didn’t seek for increment nor he was paid the deducted funds. By this, the total refunds due for the Flynas pilgrims is $2.8 million, equivalent to N4.2 billion at the exchange rate of N1,492/$1.
HOW TO BRING 2026 HAJJ FARE DOWNWARDS
From the above analysis and findings by this newspaper, it is evident that the 2026 Hajj fare can be reduced by at least N1,384,732 through the following: Makkah houses discount (N298,400), service charge reversal to pre-2022 template (N161,505), air ticket reduction (N373,000), exchange rate differential (N552,827),among others.
STAKEHOLDERS SEEK REVIEW OF 2026 HAJJ FARE, URGE EFCC TO RECOVER REFUNDS
Stakeholders that include intending pilgrims, staff of NAHCON, lawyers, and diplomats who spoke to this newspaper, have urged President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the National Assembly to review the 2026 Hajj fare downward. They said NAHCON can request President Tinubu to approve a subsisting exchange rate to be used throughout the Hajj period.
The stakeholders have also implored the EFCC to recover the N6.4 billion refund due to the 2025 pilgrims from Mr Pakistan and directly disburse it to the 41,218 affected pilgrims. They also sought the anti-graft agency’s assistance in investigating the N5 billion padded into the commission’s 2025 budget as well as all other fund releases made to it.
The EFCC has been urged to investigate Mr Zikirullah for him account for the $100 he deduction in 2023 Hajj from 28,000 Flynas pilgrims, amounting to about N4.2 billion, among other alleged infractions.
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