In preparation for 2018 Hajj exercise, the management of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has signed an agreement with Ja’iz Bank of Nigeria (JBN) for collection of Hadaya fees from Nigerian pilgrims for onward delivery to Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Saudi Arabia through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A statement from the Commission today, Thursday, said that the fee, which does not form part of Hajj fares, is however mandatory for a category of pilgrims planning to observe certain types of Hajj rites.
The statement listed those who were present at the signing that took place at the NAHCON headquarters to include the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Jaí’iz Bank Nigeria, Hassan Usman, the Deputy Managing Director of the bank,. Mahe Abubakar, Company Secretary, Ms. Rukayyat Salaudeen and one of the bank’s branch managers, Yusuf Isa Jonge.
In his submission the NAHCON’s commissioner of Policy, Personnel Management and Finance, The chairman of the NAHCON, Barrister Mkhtar Abdullahi, represented by Dr. Yusuf Adebayo Ibrahim, asked JBN to ensure that a receipt is issued to each pilgrim that pays for Hadaya.
He said that doing so has many advantages as it will promote transparency, blocks loopholes against fraudsters and help to build people’s confidence in the process.
He observed that most pilgrims are not computer literate and therefore, cannot have access to their online receipts even as he requested Ja’iz bank to ensure that pilgrims who want share of the rams they use for sacrifice should be given.
In his response, the JBN Managing Director reassured NAHCON of the bank’s credibility, transparency and dedicated service to its clients even where the profit is meager.
He assured that despite that IDB only issues electronic receipts to its clients through short message service (SMS), the bank will explore other ways to print receipts for individual pilgrims instead of the past practice where they print bulk receipts for states. [myad]
