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From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi State Government has rejected the allegations by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) over the N10 billion intervention for intending pilgrims for the 2026 Hajj, describing them as misleading and not reflective of the full facts.
Government explained that the issue was wrongly presented as a diversion of public funds, whereas it was in fact a temporary and fully recoverable intervention to protect the interests of Kebbi pilgrims.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed, who made the clarification during a press conference in Birnin Kebbi, noted that the amount was not a sponsorship or grant but a short-term loan advanced through the Kebbi State Pilgrims Welfare Agency to enable intending pilgrims meet the deadline set by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria.
He explained that the Commission fixed 5 December 2025 as the deadline for full payment nationwide, but as at that date only about 2,000 pilgrims from Kebbi State had fully paid, leaving approximately 1,300 others at the risk of losing their Hajj slots due to incomplete payments.
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To prevent this outcome, the state government approved a temporary financial intervention on the clear understanding that the money would be repaid within two weeks once the affected pilgrims completed their payments. This agreement, the Commissioner confirmed, was fully honoured.
” By 16 December 2025, just eleven days after the intervention, the entire N10 billion had been repaid in full and returned to government coffers, with no loss of public funds.
” Bank and agency records are available for public scrutiny to confirm both the date the loan was granted and the date it was fully repaid”, he said.
According to him, the decision to intervene was guided by the socioeconomic realities of the affected pilgrims, many of whom are farmers and traders who were awaiting proceeds from late November and early December harvests and business activities, making their temporary difficulty a matter of timing rather than inability to pay.
He happily said ‘ As a result of the timely intervention, Kebbi State now has 3,629 fully paid pilgrims for the 2026 Hajj, ranking second nationally, and has been included in the first batch of states to be airlifted at the commencement of the Hajj operations’.
The Kebbi State Government also reaffirmed that it has not neglected critical sectors such as health and infrastructure, noting that hospitals, including tertiary facilities, have been constructed, rehabilitated or are undergoing rehabilitation, alongside numerous primary healthcare centres. While recognizing the role of civil society groups in promoting accountability, the government urged MURIC to verify facts before public commentary and reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, good governance and the best interests of the people of Kebbi State.
