Year 2008 Christian Pilgrimage: Purchase of Pilgrims Travelling Allowance

09-61637811 Central Bank of Nigeria Central Business District P.M.B. 0187 Garki, Abuja 09-61637809 E-mail address:ted@cenbank.org TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/136/08 December 30, 2008 TO: All Authorised Dealers/General Public YEAR 2008 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 a maximum of seventeen thousand (17,000) pilgrims to undertake the 2008 pilgrimage to Israel. The Government has also approved the purchase of a maximum of US$1,000 (One thousand US Dollars only) by each intending pilgrim as Personal Travel Allowance (PTA). The PTA can be purchased at the prevailing Naira/Dollar exchange rate on the day of the purchase in any of the underlisted designated banks:

1. Afribank Plc 2) Bank PHB
2. First City Monument Bank
3. FinBank Plc 5) First Bank Plc 6) Fidelity Bank Plc 7) GTBank Plc 8) Intercontinental Bank Plc 9) Oceanic Bank Int'l Plc 10) Union Bank Plc 11) UBA Plc
4. Unity Bank Plc 13) Skye Bank Plc 14) Zenith Bank Plc

2. The designated banks are required to sell the permissible amount of the PTA 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.

4. In view of the time constraint associated with the 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/her state.

5. In accordance with the Israeli Government's Policy, visa shall only be issued to the pilgrims at the point of entry, that is, at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel on arrival. It should also be noted that the pilgrimage will be by chartered flights.

6. Therefore, in view of paragraph 5 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.

7. The fourteen (14) designated banks are advised to contact the Director, Foreign Operations Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja for details in respect of the purchase of United States Dollars (US$) to cover their sales to the intending pilgrims.

8. A schedule showing the list of the States assigned to each of the designated banks for the purposes of procuring the PTA is attached.

9. The designated banks shall render returns in respect of actual sales to the Director, Foreign Operations 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).

Designated banks are enjoined to ensure compliance with the provisions of this circular as infractions of any requirement or abuse of any waiver shall attract appropriate penalty. B. MUSA AG. DIRECTOR TRADE & EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT

List of Pilgrims from various states of the Federation is indicated in the table below: S/NO. STATES NO. OF PILGRIMS CHOICE OF BANKS 1. TARABA 363 ZENITH BANK PLC 2. KOGI 242 UBA PLC 3. OSUN 728 UBA PLC 4. BAUCHI 316 GTBANK PLC 5. NIGER 60 BANK PHB PLC 6. ADAMAWA 61 ZENITH BANK PLC 7. BORNO 46 ZENITH BANK PLC 8. YOBE 167 UNION BANK PLC 9. CROSS RIVERS 155 INTERCONTINENTAL BANK 10. ONDO 220 ZENITH BANK PLC 11. OGUN 764 SKYE BANK PLC 12. NASARAWA 255 UNITY BANK PLC 13. FCT 450 FIDELITY BANK PLC 14. KADUNA 1492 ZENITH BANK PLC 15. KWARA 470 UBA PLC 16. GOMBE 219 FIDELITY BANK PLC 17. LAGOS 1006 UNION BANK PLC 18. OYO 656 SKYE BANK PLC 19. EBONYI 350 UBA PLC 20. DELTA 460 ZENITH BANK PLC 21. RIVERS 2422 UBA PLC 22. EKITI 266 ZENITH BANK PLC 23. BENUE 426 ZENITH BANK PLC

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24.	ENUGU	274	FIRST BANK PLC
25.	ABIA	531	FCMB PLC
26.	ANAMBRA	134	UBA PLC
27.	KANO	8	UBA PLC
28	IMO	237	FCMB PLC
29.	BAYELSA	1672	ZENITH BANK PLC
30.	EDO	350	EQUITORIAL TRUST BANK
31.	AKWA IBOM	400	UBA PLC