Sanwo-Olu Ties Up The Loose Ends Of Hajj Pilgrims’ Funding With $186,800 Assistance

• Sanwo-Olu allocates $186,800 to cover shortfall in Hajj pilgrims’ Travel Basic Allowance.

• Commissioner for Home Affairs, Olanrewaju Layode, announces the allocation while addressing departing pilgrims.

• Approximately 1,868 pilgrims experienced a $100 shortfall each due to forex instability,

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has allocated around $186,800 to cover the shortfall in the Travel Basic Allowance of Hajj pilgrims from the state.

This announcement was made by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Olanrewaju Layode, while addressing the fifth and final group of pilgrims before their departure on Saturday. According to Layode, approximately 1,868 pilgrims experienced a $100 shortfall each due to forex instability.

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The commissioner stated that although $500 had earlier been announced as a BTA for each pilgrim, this amount was later lowered by the Nigerian Central Bank and National Hajj Commission after many pilgrims, particularly those in the second batch, had received their allowance in full.

The commissioner went on to say that the governor’s action was intended to allay the fears of the pilgrims , who had characterised the cutbacks as “unfair and unacceptable.”

The statement partly read, “Honourable Layode, who is also the Amir-ul-Hajj, told the pilgrims that immediately the attention of Mr. Governor was drawn to the development, he, in his kind-heartedness and magnanimity, approved the payment of the $100 shortfall for each of the 1,868 pilgrims, pending the resolution of the matter by both NAHCON and the CBN.

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“He also reiterated that Governor Sanwo-Olu, being a promise keeper, would keep his promises by paying the cost of the Hadaya (sacrificial) ram, ziyyarah (visitation) to historical sites in both Madinah and Makkah, as well as monetising the Ihram clothes for each of them. He urged them not to pay anybody for the aforementioned items.”

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