Gov Idris Rescues Kebbi Intending Pilgrims With N10b

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Reprieve on Saturday, December 6, 2025, came the way of Kebbi State intending pilgrims experiencing financial hiccups in securing their Hajj seats.

The State Governor, Dr Mohammed Nasir Idris, has approved the sum of N10 billion for the State’s Pilgrims Welfare Board to assist intending pilgrims in the payment of Hajj package, before  the end of the deadline given by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria NAHCOM.

According to the original schedule by NAHCOM, all payments for Hajj seats and other obligations will end on December 6, 2025.

According to a statement from the Executive Chairman of the Pilgrims Welfare Board, Faruku Aliyu Yaro, Governor Idris, in order to avert the loss of the  remaining seats allocated to the State because of the deadline, lent N10 billion to the agency to secure about one thousand seats for the State’s intending pilgrims.

The Board Chairman informed that before the expiry of the deadline, only two thousand intending pilgrims were able to fully meet their financial obligations, a development which he said put the remaining seats allocated to the State at risk.

“Before the closure, only two thousand intending pilgrims were able to complete their payments ,which is a shortfall from the annual number of pilgrims Kebbi usually registers”  Yaro stated.

This is as he blamed the low number of intending pilgrims that were able to meet the payments for their Hajj package on the crash of the prices of foodstuffs and other farm produce.

He noted that majority of the intending pilgrims from Kebbi state are farmers who heavily rely on the sales of their farm produce to procure Hajj seats.

The Board Chairman stated that with the N10 billion lifeline from the Governor, the agency will now be able to open a window of opportunities for other intending pilgrims to procure Hajj seats.

However, he emphasized the need for intending pilgrims to submit themselves to complete medical examinations as provided in the Hajj guidelines.

Yaro, who warned against attempts to evade the medical examinations, informed that anyone found to have adopted shortcuts will be deported if caught in the Holy Land.