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The Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has fixed the sum of N2,640,000.00 as an initial deposit for the 2023 holy pilgrimage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A statement signed by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Olanrewaju Elegushi, directed all the intending pilgrims that could not perform the Y2022 holy pilgrimage but left their money with the State Government and defer their intentions till the Y2023 exercise to endeavour to pay the sum of N1,340,000.00 in addition to the initial deposit of N1.3 million paid between 2019 and 2022.
He stressed further that those that had already completed the N2,640,000.00 charged for the last spiritual exercise but couldn’t perform the pilgrimage due to circumstances beyond their control are not affected by the directive.
According to him, each of the intending pilgrims is expected to raise a ‘Bank Draft’ in favour of the ‘Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board’ from any of the commercial banks in the country and submit the same to the Accounts Department of the Board for further necessary action.
Elegushi stressed that no intending pilgrim should pay the money into any individual account, warning that whoever does so, did it at his own risk
While urging the intending pilgrims to start paying the money as soon as possible, the Commissioner added that if there are going to be any additional charges to the N2.640 million, the Board will inform them on time.
He also reiterated his earlier statement that the intending pilgrims who left their money with the State Government between 2019 and 2022 for the forthcoming Y2023 exercise would be given priority when the spiritual exercise eventually commenced.
Recall that some of the over 4,000 intending pilgrims that were supposed to perform the Y2022 holy pilgrimage could not do so due to some factors which include inadequate slots allocated to the State by the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), increment in the fare and age barrier, amongst other.
