Hajj 2025: Pilgrims to get free cash from govt after Veep’s intervention

In a major policy shift, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the disbursement of cash-based Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) for Nigerian pilgrims participating in the 2025 Hajj, following the intervention of Vice President Kashim Shettima.

According to a statement from Stanley Nkwocha, the vice president’s spokesman, the decision reverses an earlier directive mandating debit card-only transactions for Hajj pilgrims—a move that had raised significant concerns among intending pilgrims and tour operators due to infrastructural and literacy challenges.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the vice president, Aliu Abdulrazaq, Commissioner for Policy, Personnel Management & Finance at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), confirmed the CBN’s approval for cash-based transactions.

“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,” he said.

Abdulrazaq noted the practical difficulties associated with cashless transactions for most pilgrims, adding: “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’s Secretary, Dr. Mustapha Muhammad Ali, clarified that the development should not be mistaken for a subsidy or federal government concession.

Credit: dailypost.ng

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