CSO Seeks Abolition of CBN’s 2% Service Charge on Hajj Payments

Says levy inflates fare, urges apex bank to support pilgrims

By Abdullahi Yusuf

Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to abolish the 2 per cent service charge it collects on payments made by intending Nigerian pilgrims for the annual Hajj exercise.

The group said the charge, which amounts to about $90 (N144,000) per pilgrim based on the N1,600 foreign exchange benchmark used by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), is one of the factors responsible for the high cost of Hajj this year.

In a statement issued Sunday and signed by its National Coordinator, Ibrahim Mohammed, IHR said the CBN’s collection of the levy “simply for transferring Hajj payments to NAHCON’s IBAN account in Saudi Arabia” was unjustified and should be scrapped.

“While we do not claim that the payments are illegal, we believe that the CBN can waive them as their contribution to the reduction of Hajj fare in the country,” the statement said.

According to the organisation, Saudi Arabia allocates 95,000 slots to Nigeria annually, meaning the apex bank generates about $8.55 million (N13.68 billion) from the transaction if the quota is fully utilised.

IHR noted that Nigerian pilgrims already pay multiple service charges to several government institutions, a situation it said has continued to drive up the total cost of performing the pilgrimage.

“It should be noted that NAHCON has been funding its operations since 2019, relying on its service charge and relieving the government of Hajj operational costs. Such self-reliance measures should be supported by other government institutions,” the group said.

The CSO’s position follows similar appeals by Hajj stakeholders calling on the CBN to waive the charge as part of efforts to make the pilgrimage more affordable to average Nigerian Muslims.

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