Year 2010 Christian Pilgrimage Purchase of Pilgrims Travelling allowance

TRADE & EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT 09 46237825 09 46237809 Fax :.

E-mail address:ted@cenbank.org November 5, 2010 TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/034 TO: All Authorised Dealers/General Public YEAR 2010 CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE PURCHASE OF PILGRIMS TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE The following details are notified for the information of all Authorised Dealers and the general public.

1. The Federal Government has approved commencement of the 2010 pilgrimage to Israel. The Government has also approved the purchase of a maximum of US$1,000.00 (One thousand US Dollars only) at a concessionary rate of N135.0 to the US Dollar by each intending pilgrim as Personal Travel Allowance (PTA). The PTA can be purchased at any of the underlisted designated banks: Zenith Bank Plc 1) Fidelity Bank Plc 2)

Bank PHB Plc Diamond Bank Plc 4) FCMB Plc 5) First Bank Plc 6) UBA Plc 7) Union Bank Plc 8) Equitorial Trust Bank Ltd 9) Tel :..

2. The designated banks are required to sell the permissible amount of the PTA in Travellers' Cheques to intending pilgrims, whose names and passport numbers are included in the pilgrims' master list.

3. No pilgrim should be denied the travel allowance on the ground that he/she has no Tax Clearance Certificate. In view of the time constraint associated with pilgrimage exercise, the Chairman or the Secretary of each State Pilgrims' Board, after due identification, may be allowed to sign for and collect the PTA on behalf of the intending pilgrims in his/her State on presentation of the approved list and valid passports of the pilgrims listed against his state.

4. In accordance with the Israeli and Italian Governments' Policies, visa shall only be issued to the pilgrims at the point of entry, that is, at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel and Fumichino Airport, Rome, Italy, on arrival. It should also be noted that the pilgrimage will be by chartered flights.

5. Therefore, in view of paragraph 4 above, air ticket and visa requirements for the purpose of procuring the stipulated PTA have been waived. However, an endorsed copy of each pilgrim's passport should be retained by the bank for record purposes.

6. The ten designated banks are advised to contact the Director, Banking & Payment Systems Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja for details in respect of the purchase of Travellers' Cheques to cover their sales to intending Christian pilgrims.

7. The attached schedule shows the list of the States assigned to each of the designated banks for the purposes of procuring the PTA.

The said banks must render returns in respect of actual sales to the Director, Banking & Payment Systems Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja, within two (2) weeks from the end of the exercise (i.e. from the date of the last departure flight from Israel/Rome).

Finally, infractions of any requirement or abuse of any waiver shall attract the appropriate penalty.

for: DIRECT TRADE & EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT LIST OF STATES AND BANKS ASSIGNED TO THEM FOR THE PURCHASE OF PILGRIMS TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE (PTA) FOR THE YEAR 2010 CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE

	NO. OF	CHOICE OF
S/NO.	STATES	BANKS
	PILGRIMS
	500	Union Bank
1	Abia
2	Adamawa	350	Zenith Bank
3	Akwa Ibom	1,500	UBA
4	Anambra	750	UBA
5	Bauchi	500	FCMB
6	Benue	1,000	Zenith Bank
7	Borno	200	Zenith Bank
	500	First Bank
8	Cross River
9	Delta	1,000	Zenith Bank
10	Ebonyi	750	Union Bank
	200	ETB
11	Edo
Ekiti	500	Zenith Bank
12
13	Enugu	700	First Bank
	1,500	Fidelity Bank
14	FCT	500	Fidelity Bank
15	Gombe
16	Imo	500	Zenith Bank
17	Kaduna	1,500	Zenith Bank
	UBA
18	Kano	200
19	Kebbi	250	Zenith Bank
20	Kogi	500	UBA
21	Kwara	500	UBA
	2,000	UBA
22	Lagos
23	Nasarawa	750	Diamond Bank
24	Niger	200	Bank PHB
25	Ogun	500	Skye Bank
	500	Zenith Bank
26	Ondo
27	Osun	700	First Bank
28	Oyo	1,000	UBA
	Zenith Bank
29	Plateau	2,000
30	Rivers	3,000	Skye Bank
31	Taraba	700	Zenith Bank
	FCMB
32	Yobe	350