Mr Clement Odeh, the Executive Secretary, Nasarawa State Christians Pilgrims Welfare Board, has attributed failure of pilgrims from the state to embark on 2016 pilgrimage to Jerusalem to non-availability of visas.

Odeh, who disclosed this to newsmen on Monday, said that the Nigerian Christians Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) failed to secure visas for the state pilgrims last year.

He said that the board had concluded all arrangements, including payment of the required funds early enough to ensure a hitch-free exercise within the scheduled time of between October and December.

“Our job at the board was completed for the all the intending pilgrims.

“We had to push it to the NCPC saddled with the procurement of visas and flight schedules, but without the visas and flight schedules, we cannot travel.

“Nasarawa is among seven states that could not embark on the journey last year with over 2,000 intending pilgrims still waiting to be airlifted,’’ Odeh said.

He lamented that the NCPC could not sincerely explain to the board why it could not secure visas and flight schedules for the pilgrims to embark on the journey.

“This to me, is a clear indication that some people are not doing their jobs and should be prepared to take responsibility given the fact that the exercise had a time line,’’ he said.

Odeh also blamed the Unity Bank for not making available the Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) in dollars since the  foreign exchange had been fully paid for over a month.

He said that if the visas had been procured and flight schedules released without the BTA, the exercise would have still been thwarted.

“We were at the NCPC last week and they assured us that the documents will soon be ready for the intending pilgrims to embark on the journey as spillover,’’ Odeh said.

He therefore called on the management of Unity Bank to expedite action in order to make the BTA available for the intending pilgrims to participate in the exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 77 intending pilgrims were scheduled to embarked on the 2016 exercise from the state as against the 145, who made the journey in 2015. (NAN)