The [Sokoto State Pilgrims Welfare Agency (PWA)](https://pwa.sokoto.gov.ng) has warned that the recent centralisation of Hajj passport processing in Abuja and Lagos has stretched the issuance period to as long as three weeks, up from the usual one‑week turnaround, jeopardising preparations for the 2027 pilgrimage.
During a press briefing on Tuesday in Sokoto, the agency’s chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Musa, explained that the shift to a single‑point passport issuance system in the federal capital and Lagos has elongated processing times to three weeks, whereas pilgrims previously received their documents within a week.
In a written statement released by the agency’s Head of Information and Communications, Faruku Umar, the PWA called on the [Comptroller General of Immigration](https://immigration.gov.ng) to revert to a decentralized model, arguing that the present set‑up hampers timely preparation for the Hajj.
The agency has so far enrolled 3,058 individuals for the 2027 Hajj, a figure that now incorporates an extra 300 places recently granted to Sokoto by the [National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON)](https://nahton.gov.ng).
Those additional slots are part of the 10,000 pilgrim quota allotted by the Saudi Arabian Government to Nigeria, which NAHCON distributes among the states and licensed tour operators.
‘The current arrangement is causing delays in preparations for the pilgrimage,’ said Alhaji Aliyu Musa.