CBN Approves Cash Payments for 2025 Hajj Pilgrims

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has agreed to allow Nigerian pilgrims to use cash for transactions during the 2025 Hajj, reversing an earlier policy that mandated the use of debit cards for the Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).

This change followed a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, who raised concerns about the difficulties many pilgrims would face using electronic payment systems.

Aliu Abdulrazaq, Commissioner for Policy, Personnel Management & Finance at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), told journalists after the meeting that the decision came after several discussions and a formal appeal to the CBN.

“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,” Abdulrazaq said.

“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,” he added.

He explained that for many Nigerian pilgrims, especially those from rural backgrounds, cash remains the most practical option. “95 percent of our pilgrims are peasant farmers. They have difficulties with electronic payments. Even with the cash, some of them have trouble identifying the currencies. These variables make it important for them to have the cash they are used to,” he said.

NAHCON’s Secretary, Dr. Mustapha Muhammad Ali, also emphasized that the change was not a government concession or subsidy. “There is a need for clarification we want to make. It is not a concession or intervention by the federal government. It is not a subsidy either. The Vice President intervened because most of the pilgrims make purchases in the streets of Mecca or Medina, and they do not need debit cards to make their purchases. Now it is allowed for them to carry cash,” he said.

He added that the CBN would provide the cash at the prevailing market rate.

Abba Muhammad Aliyu, Director of Human Resources at the CBN and board member representing the bank in NAHCON, said the decision was based on practical concerns about the financial literacy of many pilgrims.

“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,” Aliyu said. “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.”

He clarified that the shift was simply a change in how the allowance would be delivered. “What is happening is purely a mode of payment method. Instead of asking the pilgrims to carry a card, they are only going to be paid through cash,” he said.

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