Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency has appealed to Muslim clerics to assist in educating intending pilgrims on the need to hasten the payment of the Hajj deposit to meet the December 31, 2023, deadline.

The Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Yusuf Arrigasiyyu, made the appeal in Kaduna during a sensitisation meeting organised for the imams and Ulamas from the 23 local government areas from Monday to Tuesday.

This is contained in a statement by the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Yunusa Abdullahi, on Wednesday in Kaduna.

Mr Abdlahi quoted Mr Arrigasiyyu as saying that the December deadline had been pegged by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria as the final date for registering intending pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj.

According to him, the remittance of the Hajj fares of intending pilgrims must be sent to NAHCON on or before December 31 to enable the commission plan for next year’s Hajj.

He said the essence of the sanitisation was to involve the Imams of the Juma’at mosques in the state, adding, “because they are critical stakeholders in Hajj affairs.”

Mr Arrigasiyyu also pointed out that the imams were closer to the intending pilgrims, hence the need to state the implication of missing the registration deadline.

According to him, based on the new guidelines, the issuance of visas would commence two months before the Hajj operations, saying that the Saudi Arabian Hajj calendar has changed.

Mr Arrigasiyyu said, “Because of this change, there is a need for all the intending pilgrims to register before the end of the December deadline.”

Also, the acting Head of Operations, Abubakar Yusuf, said that the agency would continue to collaborate with the clerics in educating intending pilgrims on the new policies introduced by the NAHCON and Saudi Arabian authorities towards transforming Hajj.

(NAN)