The Katsina State government has budgeted N1.219 billion for the Hajj exercise of the state House of Assembly in its 2026 capital expenditure plan, alongside billions of naira earmarked for lawmakers’ vehicles, palliatives and economic empowerment programmes across the state’s 34 local government areas.
The allocation for the Hajj exercise is contained in the Katsina State Government’s 2026 Budget Performance Report under the capital expenditure projects of the Katsina State House of Assembly.
The document shows that N1,219,604,834.29 was appropriated for the “Hajj Exercise” under the Assembly’s capital expenditure plan for the year.
The allocation is one of several major expenditure items approved for the state legislature, including the purchase of vehicles for incoming members and officials, rehabilitation of Assembly facilities, palliatives for constituencies and economic empowerment programmes.
For instance, the state government budgeted N445 million for the “Purchase of Vehicles for Incoming Hon. House Members and Officials/Aides,” while another N300 million was allocated for the “Purchase of Official Vehicles for Assembly Service Commission.”
The Assembly also received an allocation of N2 billion for the “Provision of Palliatives to 34No. Constituencies,” effectively setting aside funds for palliatives across all constituencies in the state.
Another N1.292 billion was budgeted for “Economic Empowerment in 34No. LGAs,” while N855 million was earmarked for the Assembly’s “Mainstream Mobilization On Social protection program.”
The budget further provided N375 million for the “Construction of Mini Chamber for Right Honourable Speaker,” N250 million for the “General Rehab. at Kaduna (old) Guest House including 4No. Chalets,” and N130 million for “General Rehabilitation at the Assembly Complex.”
Other allocations included N140 million for the purchase of laptops and iPads, N65 million for the production of calendars and almanacs, N15 million for the production of Hansard bound volumes and N20 million for the purchase of equipment for printing and the press crew.
The Assembly’s Hajj allocation is particularly notable because it is classified as a capital expenditure project, despite the nature of the item being religious travel.
The broader 2026 capital expenditure plan of the Katsina State Government contains N726.3 billion for projects across ministries, departments and agencies.
Among the other major allocations in the capital budget are N10 billion for the Katsina State Enterprise Development programme’s MSME Corridor Mapping Empowerment Programme, N3.333 billion for the Katsina State Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund and N2.3 billion for the establishment of a data centre.
The budget also includes N1.4 billion for the construction of an additional structure at Katsina House in Abuja.
The allocation for the Assembly’s Hajj exercise comes amid wider public scrutiny of government spending and the prioritisation of public resources, particularly expenditure benefiting political office holders and government institutions.
The allocation therefore raises questions about the scale of the planned pilgrimage-related spending and the number of beneficiaries covered by the provision.
Overall, the N1.219 billion Hajj allocation represents one of the notable provisions contained in the Assembly’s 2026 capital expenditure plan, alongside substantial allocations for vehicles, palliatives, empowerment programmes and infrastructure.
In a separate development, SaharaReporters previously reported that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) disbursed a total of over ₦1.09 billion on December 24, 2025, for the provision of Hajj and Umrah services linked to members of the National Assembly and Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, according to records published on public payments portal Govspend and reviewed by SaharaReporters.
The records show that ₦234.344 million was paid to Al-Hujaaj International Umrah & Hajj Services.
The payment was described as “payment for provision of pilgrims and consular hajj and umrah service for national assembly senate committee on foreign affairs for the year.”
On the same date, NAHCON also paid ₦863.794 million to Sanilak Travel & Tours Ltd.
The description for the transaction stated: “payment for the provision of hajj & umrah vip pilgrims & consular service to the members of national assembly committee on foreign affairs.”
Combined, the two payments amount to ₦1.098 billion.
The expenditures were reportedly made in connection with arrangements covering pilgrims’ services and consular support for members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and ‘National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs’.
Details contained in the payment descriptions indicate that the services included both regular and VIP Hajj and Umrah packages.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria is the federal body responsible for regulating and supervising Hajj and Umrah activities for Nigerian pilgrims. Its responsibilities include coordinating pilgrimage logistics, licensing service providers and ensuring compliance with Saudi Arabian guidelines.