A civil society organisation, Independent Hajj Reporters, has urged National Hajj Commission of Nigeria to instruct the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to start registration of intending pilgrims for the 2025 hajj.

The organisation’s National Coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammed, said this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Muhammed said that the call had become imperative, given the short time frame allocated to pre-hajj activities in the newly-released hajj calendar by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

He described pilgrims’ welfare boards in the states as the centre of pre-hajj activities in terms of registration of pilgrims, documentation, orientation and conveyance of funding.

According to him, delayed registration can affect late remittance by states.

“The behind-schedule remittance of pilgrims’ deposits by states will obstruct NAHCON’s ability to process and transfer the needed funds to Saudi Arabia service providers. This will also have a negative influence on the Saudi-based service providers’ readiness to provide efficient and effective services to our dear pilgrims,” he said.

Mr Muhammed stressed the need for NAHCON to adhere strictly to its hajj calendar to avoid conflicts with important pre-hajj activities.

He also urged governors to reduce administrative bureaucracy to allow pilgrims’ welfare boards in their states to execute pre-hajj activities, such as commencement of hajj registrations and announcements of hajj fare benchmarks.

This, Mr Muhammed said, also included transfer of hajj deposits to NAHCON, with little administrative channels, adding that this caused delays in the previous hajj exercise.

(NAN)