The Association of Hajj and Umrah Operation of Nigeria (AHUON) has appeal to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to as a matter of urgency refund monies owed her members
According to a letter addressed to the Chairman /Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Sheikh Prof Abdullahi Salleh U, the association said such refund should be made before opening up bidding for 2025 Hajj licenses
The letter which was dated August 26th , 2024 and signed by the National President, Abdul Lateef Ekundayo Yusuf , the association lamented that some members have not been paid N5m caution deposits for 2023 Hajj
The association also lamented over the unilateral decision of the commission to increase 2025 Hajj Caution deposits without the input of other stakeholders
The letter reads in parts” Permit me to refer to your advertorial in The Nation Newspaper of Saturday 24th of August, 2024 with the above caption. In an ideal situation, this could have caused for celebrations from Tour Operators, because for the first time, you are kick starting the Hajj processes early enough.
“However, while we appreciate the zeal of the Commission to open a new book for the 2025 Hajj operation on time, we feel it is important to draw its attention to the fact that the book of the 2024 Hajj has not been properly closed as far as Tour Operators are concern.
“Therefore our expectation was that the Commission will address all pending issues relating to the 2024 operations before the invitation to bid for the 2025 Hajj license”.
On the outstanding deposits, Ekundayo Yusuf said “in the build up to 2024 Hajj, the Commission promised that unlike previous years, it will refund all caution deposits immediately after Hajj. In fact, a three weeks timeline was given by the management of the Commission. It is therefore, strange to us that the commission will place a public notice for a new bid while the pending issues has not been concluded.
“For your information Sir, there are some of our members that have not been paid their 2023 caution deposits of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira Only) uptill today.
“We therefore, call on the Commission to set aside at least 2 weeks to start the processes of refunding Tour Operators including the N25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Naira) caution deposit immediately”.
The association further stressed that huge amounts of monies belonging to her members were trap at the Commission finance department for several years
“Secondly, Sir, our members have reportedly complained about several amounts of monies been trapped with the Commission’s finance department dating back many years despite several demands. In fact, we tabled these requests with Commission severally and once agreed that a list of such outstanding refund will be published by the Commission and invite the agencies to come forward for their refunds.
‘It is our opinion that, there is no better time than now. We want to start on a clean sheet with the Commission. We demand payment of all genuine claims owed our members by the Commission before the call for another round of bidding”.
On the services not render, the association said “immediately we returned from Hajj, precisely on the 16th of July, 2024, we wrote the Commission demanding the payment for 2022 and 2023 refunds for services not rendered to our members paid by Ithra Alkhair through the Commission.
“As we speak, the Commission has not taken any action in that regard, and we are aware the Mu’assasah has also approved the refund for the 2024 tent A service failure”.
On the development levy, AHUON disclosed that ” on the 24th of July, 2024, we wrote a letter of reminder for the payment of N20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Naira Only) being 20% of the Association’s share from the 2023 development levy as agreed and graciously approved by the last management. We have written countless letters of which no response was received from the Commission on that legitimate demand.
“For the record sir, this position was agreed upon because of our insistance that our members and pilgrims alike do not and have never benefited from the projects associated with the funds being raised through the development levy.
“Fifthly, and equally important is our letter of 15th of August, 2024, where we drew the attention of the Commission to the difficulties being faced by our members concerning Umrah visas and the associated losses being incured on a daily basis as a result of the Saudi quarter system on Nigeria.
“To our dismay, and like the other letters nothing has been heard from the Commission. Not even an acknowledgement of our letter. As the regulator and issuer of the umrah licences, we expect the Commission to swing into action immediately to protect its licensees. Why would the Commission placed more importance on earning revenue through Hajj and Umrah licensing than concern about the fate of those it licenced.
“Finally, we notice the increase in the caution deposit this year to N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira Only) by the Commission. Needless to mention, we always recognize the statutory right of the Commission to exercise its regulatory powers in ensuring optimum performance of the Hajj operations.
“However, we wish to remind the Commission that Hajj management requires consultation, discourse and the input of critical stakeholders which we believe to represent. During the last increase to N25,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira Only) we were carried along and we are proud of the role we played in ensuring the success of the policy implementation”.
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