A member of the Kaduna State Special Hajj Committee, Haliru Maraya has claimed that the pilgrimage sponsorship embargoed in 2015 by Nasir El-Rufai, as Kaduna Governor, was selectively implemented against Christians.
Top Society recalls that El-Rufai had shortly after settling into the Kaduna Government House announced a ban on government-sponsored pilgrimages, citing fiscal prudence and efforts to manage the state’s debt profile.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Maraya said the policy was not uniformly enforced. He alleged that while Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem was effectively halted throughout el-Rufai’s eight-year tenure, sponsorship for Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia continued under alternative classifications.
According to him, “At face value, the policy appeared to apply to both Muslim and Christian pilgrims. However, subsequent developments revealed a divergence between policy pronouncement and policy implementation.”
Maraya said approximately 985 pilgrims were sponsored for hajj during the period, including 730 officials and 255 sub-officials. He stressed that there was no record of any Christian pilgrim receiving government sponsorship to Jerusalem within the same timeframe.
He said those sponsored as officials included medical personnel, clerics and administrative staff to facilitate pilgrimage operations, while “sub-officials” received full government sponsorship covering airfare, accommodation, feeding and basic travelling allowances.
Comparing what obtained under El-Rufai with his successor, Governor Uba Sani’s decision to lift the 11-year suspension of government sponsorship of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem, Maraya said the move reflects fairness, inclusivity and equal citizenship in a religiously diverse state like Kaduna.
“Government neutrality in religious matters does not require disengagement but even-handedness,” Maraya said, stressing that the restoration of Christian pilgrimage sponsorship does not diminish support for Muslim pilgrims but establishes balance.
