ABUJA Pilgrims' BTA, Director Explains

I have been working hard to reach the bottom of the FCT pilgrims BTA controversy that started on this wall 24 hours ago. Finally, I was able to hear from the horse's mouth.

The matter was actually caused by a communication gap between the FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board (FCTMPWB) and pilgrims sponsored from the National Assembly. This is the explanation give me by the Director of the Board, Malam Mohammed Bashir:

FCTMPWB sold two kind of Hajj seats to its pilgrims this year: small and big, of N785,175.40 and N825,178.00 respectively. Pilgrims who bought the small seat gets a BTA of $750 and those with the big gets $1000. No seat higher than this sold, unlike in some states, like Bauchi.

After pilgrims have bought the seats, there was an increase in the cost of accommodation by N137,500 per each pilgrim. With little time at hand, this increase was paid for each pilgrim as a subsidy by the FCT authorities. No pilgrim was asked to pay any kobo in addition to the amount he or she paid earlier.

Up to this point everything was normal, like in other states. Then enters a request from the National Assembly leadership which solicited seats from FCTMPWB on behalf of its members and some pilgrims they were sponsoring. FCT authorities then said they can accommodate the requests only if the national assembly members and those they are sponsoring will pay for their seats and for the additional N137,500 since the Board does not have any money to grant them any subsidy like it did to the normal pilgrims. The National Assembly leadership agreed. By this, their members will pay N922,678.40 and N962,678.40 for the small and big seats respectively. The National Assembly pilgrims will enjoy all entitlements like the "normal" FCT pilgrims, including $750 and $1000 BTA for the two seats respectively.

The deal was signed and sealed. It was at the delivery that a problem arose. Explanation was not made to pilgrims sponsored by the NA members. Some of them, like those who came from Bauchi State, thought they will get a BTA of $1500 because their colleagues who went through Bauchi State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board received that amount for a seat of N915,000! The protest from my complainant was therefore informed by this communication gap. After telling him that the N137,000 difference was not for BTA but for an extra-cost on accommodation, he was satisfied.

My checks with various pilgrims have confirmed the validity of what the FCTMPWB Director said. We owe him and his staff – morally and legally – an apology and, more importantly, a retraction. I hereby declare, therefore, that the allegation of corruption on the issuance of BTA to FCT pilgrims is not true. Neither was it intended to undermine anyone but something that naturally arose as a result of a communication gap. It shows, as the Director said, that Nigerians are becoming more vigilant on their rights under the Buhari administration. Alhamdullillah.

Please readers and friends who have shared or forwarded the first message should share and forward this too to mitigate the damage that we might have caused the officials of the FCTMPWB. The Director should also please gather the NA sponsored pilgrims and explain to this matter to them.

Thank you.

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

20 September 2015