The decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sell the dollar to Nigerian Hajj pilgrims at lower than the current exchange rate has been defended despite the sharp fall in the value of the Naira.
Each pilgrim is entitled to purchase a minimum of $750.00 and maximum of US$1,000.00 as PTA.
Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said that the bank had come under severe criticism for its decision to sell the dollar at N197 to the pilgrims compared to its current price of N395.
The governor in a statement said the decision was based on an agreement that had been reached before the current exchange regime came into existence, adding that the pilgrims had made advanced payments for the exercise.
The CBN urged the selected banks and authorised forex dealers to comply with its directive to sell the Pilgrims Travelling Allowance, PTA, to intending pilgrims at the agreed exchange rate.
Mr. Segun Adeleke, a banker was one of the experts who had blamed the apex bank for the directive at a time that factories cannot get enough foreign exchange to import crucial inputs and parents are finding it difficult to pay the school bills of their children studying abroad due to the scarcity and high cost of foreign exchange.
Adeleke also mentioned: “We find this directive shocking because the ill-advised involvement of government in the sponsorship or subsidy of pilgrimages has become increasingly unpopular, even among some of our religious leaders”.
But, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) corroborated the CBN Governor claim on the matter. The body said the Federal Government has not given foreign exchange waiver to Nigerian pilgrims performing hajj this year.
The commission’s Head of Media, Alhaji Uba Mana, made the clarification in a statement issued in Abuja said:“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria wishes to draw the attention of the public that the Federal Government has not given foreign exchange waiver to Nigerian pilgrims performing this year’s hajj.
“If there is one thing that the Government did for the Nigerian pilgrims, it was to allow the exchange rate prevalent at the time of payment of Hajj fare in February when the current flexible exchange rate was not in action to subsist.
“It is therefore wrong and mischievous for some persons or media organisations to peddle unfounded claims that the Federal Government gave the Nigerian pilgrims a waiver,’’ he said in the statement.
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