The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the request of the 2025 intending pilgrims to be granted cash transactions for the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.
The approval followed the intervention of Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who appealed to President Bola Tinubu on behalf of the over 40,000 pilgrims on the decision through the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Thursday.
NAHCON’s Commissioner for Policy, Personnel Management and Finance, Aliu Abdulrazaq, who disclosed while speaking with newsmen after meeting with the vice-president at the State House, Abuja, confirmed that the CBN granted Nigerian pilgrims the opportunity of cash transactions for this year’s Hajj.
He said, “The meeting was prompted by the policy of the Federal Government on the card for Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) for 2025 Hajj operations. We have held a series of meetings before now. The vice-president intervened and invited the Central Bank’s Deputy Governor with a plea.
“Out of the magnanimity of the CBN and appeal made by the vice-president, they dropped the idea of a card for pilgrims in the 2025 Hajj, and they conceded to people having cash instead of a card. This is a landmark achievement for NAHCON.
“If you go to Saudi Arabia, mostly the areas where the pilgrims are going to perform their rituals, there is only one Automated Teller Machine there, and it is always crowded – it poses so much difficulties for pilgrims to purchase whatever they want to purchase.
“Secondly, 95 per cent of the pilgrims from Nigeria are peasant farmers, and they have difficulties with electronic payments. Even with the cash, some of them have difficulties identifying the currencies. These variables make it important for them to have the cash they are used to.”
NAHCON secretary, Dr Mustapha Muhammad Ali, clarified that the change is neither a concession nor a subsidy from the federal government.
Explaining the CBN’s intervention in the matter, the Director of Human Resources at the CBN and Board member representing the CBN in NAHCON, Abba Muhammad Aliyu, said the CBN granted NAHCON’s request because the welfare of Nigerian pilgrims was of utmost interest to the Nigerian government.
“Looking at the financial literacy of the pilgrims, there is a need for us to see that we make life easy for them because a lot of them do not know how to operate the ATM. So, these are some of the reasons the senior management of the bank, in their own magnanimity upon the call of the vice-president, looked at those issues,” Aliyu said.
The CBN had earlier in the year introduced a new payment method for Basic Travel Allowance for Nigerians embarking on the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage.
Under the revised system, each pilgrim would be issued an ATM card for withdrawals and transactions during the pilgrimage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
2,800 VIP bed spaces
Meanwhile, chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman, has advised tour operators who have indicated interest in Tent A accommodation through Rawaf Mina to upgrade their payments accordingly to gain access to the facilities.
This directive follows a Zoom meeting Wednesday night, with the Rawaf Mina Service Providers, with whom the Commission has signed an agreement for the provision of VIP services for the year’s Hajj.
The company revealed that it has secured 2,800 VIP bed spaces in the newly constructed building located just few meters from the Jamrat. The five-storey facility comprises 23 rooms on the first floor and 30 rooms each on the second, third, and fourth floors.