JUMADAL THANI 25 1430 A.H.
TUESDAY JUNE, 23 2009
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Hajj: Sokoto spends N300m on accommodation
The Sokoto state government said on Sunday that it had committed more than N300 million into the provision of accommodation for its intending pilgrims during the 2009/2010 Hajj.
Alhaji Abdullahi Maigwandu , special adviser to the governor on pilgrims affairs, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Sokoto that this was to ensure that pilgrims were provided befitting accommodation.
He said accommodation would be provided at the usual Masfalah area in Makkah and other befitting areas in Medinah.
``The intending pilgrims always prefer this area in Makkah because it is closer to the Holy Mosque of Ka’abah,'' he said.
He, however, said accommodation money was added to the fare paid by each of the intending pilgrims.
According to him, Governor Aliyu Wamakko had earlier rejected the accommodation spaces booked for intending pilgrims due to the far distance from the Holy Mosque.
`` The state government had been extending such laudable gestures every year to ensure that intending pilgrims from the state worship with ease,'' he said.
On procurement of e-passports as directed by the Saudi authorities, Maigwandu said majority of the state’s intending pilgrims had obtained one.
He also denied the allegation that Hajj seats were being sold to some PDP loyalists in the state.
`` Hajj is a religious exercise which nobody should be denied the chance to perform. The allegation is baseless and unfounded ,'' he said.
The special adviser said the 7,000 Hajj seats allocated to the state by the federal authorities were equitably distributed among the 23 local government areas.
Meanwhile, the Sokoto State Comptroller of Nigeria Immigration Service, Alhaji Muhammadu Dangoggo, says 5,500 e-passports had been issued to the state’s intending pilgrims.
`` The remaining 1,500 pilgrims will surely get their own in the next two to three weeks.
`` We have enough stocks for them and other potential applicants of the e-passports,'' he said.
He said the e-passports conforms with the global aviation standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
