N17bn refund: Tour operators threaten legal action against NAHCON

The Association for Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHOUN), has threatened to take legal action against the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) if it fails to refund over N17bn due to its members.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday, the President of AHOUN, Abdullateef Ekundayo Yusuf, said NAHCON has over the years kept mum on funds of its members.

He noted that the money includes refunds for caution deposits, unused visas, excess payments, and Umrah deposits, among others, that the commission is holding on to without communication on whether it will ever pay it back.

He noted that last year alone, the commission collected over N2.7bn as a caution deposit from the association’s members with an agreement the funds were to be released two weeks after the conclusion of the Hajj.

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“NAHCON has refuse to refund any of the companies that applied for it, instead they are asking for more money as increase to the last year’s deposit.

“The Commission has attested to have held our members’ funds through several engagements example unused visa, excess payments, Umrah deposit etc., and have not shown any sign of refunding such funds.

“In fact, our agreement with the Commission to publish the list of the companies under this category since last year have not been met. It is worth noting that many of our members have passed on waiting for these refunds,” Yusuf said.

“Furthermore, NAHCON is owing our members over N15 Billion. It was the practice of the Saudi government after each Hajj operation to refund money to countries on three grounds. Number one, services paid by pilgrims but not rendered, number two services paid for but poorly rendered to the agreed standard, number three tent security deposits. Our members are owed all these categories of money from 2022 Hajj to date by the commission.” got to know through media reports, before they now confirmed to us at our last meeting.”