2025 Hajj: CBN Okays in cash for pilgrims

The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) approved the request for the intentional pilgrims of 2025 to grant cash transactions for the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

The approval followed the intervention of the vice -president Kashim Shettimo, 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) Thursday.

Nahcon’s commissioner for politics, personnel management and finance, Aliu Abdulrazaq, who revealed while talking to journalists after meeting the vice -president at the State House, Abuja, confirmed that the CBN granted Nigerian pilgrims the opportunity for cash transactions for the Hajj this year.

He said: “The meeting was caused by the Federal Government policy on the basic travel allowance (BTA) for the 2025 Hajj operations. We held a series of meetings before now. The vice -president intervened and invited the deputy governor of the central bank with an appeal.

“For the magnanimity of the CBN and the appeal made by the vice -president, they dropped the idea of ​​a card for pilgrims in the Hijj of 2025 and have allowed people who have money instead of a card. This is a reference result for Nahcon.

“If you go to Saudi Arabia, mainly the areas where pilgrims will perform their rituals, there is only an automated cashier machine there, and it is always crowded: it places so many difficulties for pilgrims to buy everything they want to buy.

“Secondly, 95 % of pilgrims from Nigeria are farmers farmers and have difficulties with electronic payments. Even with money, some of them have difficulty identifying currencies. These variables make it important for them to have the money they are used to.”

The secretary of Nahcon, dr. Mustapha Muhammad Ali, clarified that change is neither a concession nor a subsidy of the federal government.

By explaining the intervention of the CBN on the subject, the director of human resources at the CBN and the member of the Board of Directors representing the CBN in Nahcon, Abba Muhammad Aliyu, said that the CBN granted Nahcon’s request because the well -being of the Nigerian pilgrims was of more interest for the Nigerian government.

“Looking at the financial literacy of the pilgrims, there is a need to see that we make life easy for them because many of them do not know how to manage the ATM. So, these are some of the reasons why the bank senior management, in their magnanimity with the call of the vice -president, have looked at such problems,” said Aliyu.

The CBN had introduced a new payment method for the basic travel allowance for the Nigerians who embark on Hajj’s pilgrimage from 2025 at the beginning of the year.

Based on the revised system, each pilgrim would be issued an ATM card for withdrawals and transactions during the pilgrimage in the reign of Saudi Arabia.

2,800 spaces of the VIP bed

Meanwhile, the president of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (Nahcon), Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman, recommended to tour operators who have indicated the interest in the tent through Rawaf Mina to update their payments as a result to obtain access to the structures.

This directive follows a Zoom meeting on Wednesday evening, with Rawaf Mina’s service providers, with whom the Commission signed an agreement for the provision of VIP services for the Hajj of the year.

The company revealed that it has obtained 2,800 spaces of the VIP bed in the newly built building located a few meters from Jamrat. The five -storey structure includes 23 rooms on the first floor and 30 rooms each on the second, third and fourth floor.