The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, made the statement in his eid-el-fitr message to Muslims on Monday in Abuja.

” By the special favour of the Almighty, we witness the end of Ramadan fast, glory be to Him that makes any situation possible.

” On behalf of my humble self, NAHCON board, management, and entire members of  staff, I congratulate Nigerian Muslims for being alive to celebrate this joyous occasion of Eid-el-Fitr.

” I pray that we have exited the holy month of Ramadan with an exalted demeanor than when we started. I also pray that the Almighty grants the supplications that we made for ourselves and for our country.

” May all our acts of worship be rewarded with jannatul firdaus,” he said.

Hassan said that the commission was exploring every possible window to minimise the inevitable increase in Hajj fare.

” It is in the light of this that I urge our intending pilgrims and other stakeholders to reciprocate NAHCON’s effort through timely payment of dues as soon as the final fare for Hajj 2022 is announced.

” A timely move in this direction will help management in determining the number of pilgrims the commission will be making arrangements for, which is an important paradigm for a successful Hajj,”  he said.

He revealed that NAHCON’s delegation to Saudi Arabia received briefing on some policy guidelines pertaining to few areas of hajj operation.

“The guidelines include, the restriction of four pilgrims to a room and the organisation of 45 pilgrims in a group under one supervisor.

” Details of the grouping procedure will follow subsequently,” he said.

Hassan, therefore, encouraged stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of organising such groups to start strategising to meet up with the requirements when the time comes.

” Another new plan in this year’s hajj is that feeding in Masha’ir that will be managed by the Mu’assasa; this is the Muna, Muzdalifa and Arafat domains where pilgrims relocate to for devotional retreat.

” It is my strongest conviction that Hajj 2022 will be a success, if we resolve to collectively contribute our quota toward attaining a hitch-free 2022 Hajj operations.”