Katsina govt to intended pilgrims: If you don’t have N700,000, you can’t perform 2016 hajj

Katsina State Pilgrims Welfare Board on Tuesday announced N700,000 as the minimum deposit for each intending pilgrim from the state wishing to perform the 2016 hajj.
The Executive Director of the board, Alhaji Muhammad Abu Rimi, made announcement in Katsina at the inauguration of committees for the distribution of hajj seats for the 34 Local Government Areas of the state.
He said that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) had allocated 4,463 seats to the state for the 2016 exercise like the previous year.
He said that the board would conduct ballot for hajj seats and registration of intending pilgrims across the 34 local government areas simultaneously on February 20.
Rimi said that each intending pilgrim must pay their deposit in bank draft between February 8 and 18.
According to him, the intending pilgrims must also possess e-passport before they are allowed to take part in the balloting.
He said that intending pilgrims should not be persons restricted to travel by the courts, under travel restriction by the government or those with pending legal matters.
He said that intending pilgrims must be indigenes of the state.
The executive director said that intending pilgrims who are above 65 years and below 18 years had been barred from performing the pilgrimage by the Saudi Arabia Government.
He said that pregnant women and sick persons would not be registered.
“Any local government that register and allow the passage of old, sick or pregnant woman shall be surcharged by way of reducing its hajj seats allocation for subsequent year as penalty,’’ he said.
Rimi said that intending female pilgrims must have ‘Muharram’ male guide before they could register.