A statement from the Head of the Media of the Commission, Uba Mana said that nine air carriers and four excess luggage carries had made the list at the opening of application forms event which took place today at Stonehedge hotel, Abuja.
“The carriers to be screened were Azman Air Services, Chanchangi Airlines, Dornier AIEP, Fly-Nas, Kabo Air Limited, Max Air Limited, Med-View Airlines, Skypower Express Airways Limited and Top Brass, while applicants as excess luggage carriers were Cargo Zeal Technologies Limited, Evergreen and White, Med-View International Travels and Cargo and NAHCO Aviance. “
Uba Mana said that the Chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Barrister Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammad, charged members of the screening committee to ensure transparency and due process, so that only the capable and experienced airline operators would be prequalified.
“He expressed confidence in the ability of the committee made up of aviation experts to deliver,” adding that Barrister Muhammad informed the applicants of the insistence of the Saudi government on full implementation of the e-track system and the demand that all the airliners must secure their Saudi-bound slots before the end of April 2016.
“He announced that the Commission has issued new guidelines for some activities for 2016 Hajj, including guidelines on pilgrims’ accommodation in Makkah and Madina, guidelines on 2016 pilgrims’ feeding, guidelines on unified pilgrims’ registration and guidelines on the licensing of State Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Board/Agencies/Commissions.
“He said that over 1.7billion Naira have been refunded to all the State boards and agencies from 2015 Hajj for pilgrims who could not perform the Hajj and for various services that were not rendered to the pilgrims by the services providers. He called on all Nigerian pilgrims of 2015 Hajj to go to their respective state boards and agencies to collect their refunds.
“The Chairman thanked the Federal government, the National Assembly and all the relevant organs of the government for their support and assured that the Commission will achieve greater success in 2016 Hajj.”
In his remarks, the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representaives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Ibrahim Abdullahi, commended the level of transparency in the opening of the application forms and urged the screening committee to maintain the tempo.
He commended NAHCON for its efforts in ensuring that pilgrims got the best services they pay for and wished the airliners well in their application to participate in the 2016 Hajj exercise.
The Chairman of the screening committee and NAHCON commissioner in charge of Operations, Alhaji Abullah Modibbo Saleh on behalf of the committee members promised to give equal opportunity to the applicants.
The committee was made up of the three executive commissioners of the Commission, Board members representing the six geopolitical zones, representative of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), representatives from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), NAMA, NIMET, AIPB, Customs, ICPC, EFCC, officials of Osun, Kano, Nasarawa states and FCT, while Bar. Alhassan Abdulkarim will serve as the secretary. [myad]
