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Ekiti Cancels Sponsorship Of Pilgrims With State Money

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The Ekiti State Government has advocated more private sponsorship of pilgrims to Mecca and Jerusalem, following the government’s withdrawal from bankrolling the activity.

Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi told at a meeting with members of the State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, that both the federal and state governments had stopped sponsoring pilgrims on holy pilgrimages, to save funds for development purposes.

He told the board members, led by its Chairman, Alhaji Babatunde Onipede, that individuals interested in performing pilgrimage should do so through private savings, in view of the government’s withdrawal of sponsorship.

“Both the Federal Government and the State Government have said they will not spend their money on pilgrimages again, and that is why there was no budgetary allocation to it.

“Anybody wishing to perform his religious obligation of going to the Holy Lands must do so with his own personal savings, and that was what I told the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) when their executives made a similar request, because we must be fair to all,” Egbeyemi said.

The deputy governor, however, said that the board’s demand for office furniture and utility vehicles were legitimate and would be looked into accordingly, stressing that the state government was ready to assist the board in the performance of its statutory duties