Senate Wants N200 to Dollar Rate for Pilgrimages

The individuals from the eighth national get together have prompted the Nigerian government to set an extraordinary outside swapping scale for explorers in the nation. 

The Senate on Thursday asked the Federal Government to offer N200 to dollar admission to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) once in consistently.

It said that it was for journeys to the separate blessed grounds for Muslims and Christians.

This was a piece of the suggestions by the Committee on Foreign Affairs on "The Extortion of Pilgrims by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria'' displayed by the Chairman, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, at whole. The panel prescribed the admission to cut down the cost of the journeys to tolerable level.

The Senate had in a movement on June 7, asked the Federal Government to audit downwards, the 2017 Hajj admission. Some portion of the 10-point proposal by the panel was that the Federal Government should have exchanges with Saudi Arabia experts.

Sunmonu said that the interview with the Saudi government was to survey the 50-50 carriage of pioneers amongst Nigeria and Saudi Arabian aircrafts. "This is with a view to giving chances to more indigenous Nigerian aircrafts to take an interest in the Hajj operations. This will give Nigeria assortments in picking the air transporter.

"The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria ought to facilitate activity on the foundation of Hajj Savings Schemes in consistence with Section 7(1 and 2) of the NAHCON Act.

“The Nigeria Government and its economic team must do everything possible to improve on the Nigerian monetary policy which would expectedly guarantee a long-time stable relationship of the Naira with other currencies,” she said.

 

Sunmonu noted that 98 per cent of the entire Hajj operations were dollars-denominated with only two per cent as naira content. In his contribution, Sen. Ali Wakil (APC-Bauchi) said that there was need for an ad hoc committee to look into the matter of feeding and transportation of the pilgrims.

 

He called for the restoration of Amirul Hajj to serve as checks and balance between Nigeria and Saudi. In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said “we passed the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and based on it, we have passed what should be the exchange rate which is N305 to a dollar.

 

“We should make laws that are truly going to guide our people because we have MTEF which says the exchange is N305. “If with passing MTEF nobody should be given N200, but businessmen are getting N200, then, definitely pilgrims deserve N200 as well,” he said.

 

Saraki said that the Senate must put an end to the money-making venture, because pilgrimage was a religious activity and should not be for money-making. “We will put an end to these leakages,’’ he stated. Saraki said.

 

The Senate accepted the recommendations but rejected the one requesting NAHCON to ensure improved feeding for Nigerian contingents to all designated points, insisting that feeding should be left to the pilgrims.