Abuja – The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has developed comprehensive guidelines to serve as rules and regulations for the management of Hajj and Umrah operations.
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Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, the Executive Chairman of NAHCON, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that the measure was part of efforts to enhance transparency and accountability in the administration of hajj and umrah with a view to make them hitch-free.
Mukhtar said that the NAHCON Establishment Act empowered the commission to set up guidelines to govern the activities of hajj and umrah in the country.
“The issue of the guideline is in line with the provision of the NAHCON Act which stipulates that the commission as a regulator should issue out guidelines to govern the activities of hajj and umrah in Nigeria.
“We developed a comprehensive document and submitted it to the Federal Ministry of Justice to serve as rules and regulations that will be used in the management of the exercise,“Mukhtar said.
The executive chairman said that the Ministry of Justice had approved the document, adding that the commission would draw its regulatory guidelines on all its activities from the document.
He said that NAHCON had released guidelines on the registration of pilgrims which would put an end to individual approach in the registration of pilgrims.
The NAHCON boss added that the commission had issued guidelines for the accommodation and feeding of pilgrims and licenses of State Pilgrims Welfare Board and agencies.
“These are all in line with the provision of the NAHCON Act and this will make the commission take it regulatory status more firmly.
“ It will also enable the commission monitor compliance and apply penalty were there are breeches of regulations, “ he said.
Mukhtar said that the guidelines would ensure strict adherence to the rules and regulations governing the aviation industry in Nigeria and that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He said that the guidelines would also ensure better and improved service delivery to pilgrims. (NAN)