Nigeria Presidency reacts to US visa ban, Aregbesola heads review panel

Seun Adeyeye 15:48 - 01 February 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump with President Muhammadu Buhari in the White House on April 30, 2018. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

President Muhammadu Buhari has officially reacted to the recent visa ban that was imposed on Nigerians and nationals of five other countries from by the US.

An official of the US government had earlier disclosed that Nigeria and Tanzania were added to the list because of the number of people who come from the African countries on a visa and end up illegally staying in the United States.

However, in an officially statement by Femi Adesina, the president’s media adviser, President Buhari has set up a committee, headed by Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, ” to study and address the updated U.S. requirements.

Read the full statement below:

On 31st January 2020, the United States (U.S) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced temporary travel restrictions on six (6) countries including Nigeria.

For Nigeria, the restriction is the suspension of the issuance of “immigrant visas” to Nigerian passport holders only.

This suspension shall come into effect on 21st February 2020. The suspension does not apply to other U.S visas such as those for official, business, tourism and student travel.

The DHS states the suspension of “immigrant visas” became necessary following a review and update of the methodology (performance metrics) adopted by the U.S Government to assess compliance of certain security criteria by foreign governments.

This resulted in certain enhancements on how information is shared between Nigeria and the U.S.

Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and its international allies especially on matters of global security.

Accordingly, President Muhammadu Buhari has established a committee, to be chaired by the Hon. Minister of Interior, to study and address the updated U.S. requirements.

The committee will work with the U.S Government, INTERPOL and other stakeholders to ensure all updates are properly implemented.

The real reason why Trump banned Nigerians from US immigration visa

A proclamation issued on Friday, January 31, 2020, by the National Security and Defense and signed by Trump, stated the major reasons why the US government banned Nigerians from US immigration visa.

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According to the proclamation, the followings are the reasons Trump imposed travel ban on Nigeria.

Nigeria does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.
Nigeria does not adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information, which is necessary for the protection of the national security and public safety of the United States.
Nigeria also presents a high risk, relative to other countries in the world, of terrorist travel to the United States.

The US government also argued that its investment and effort in partnering with Nigeria in providing assistance on border management and fighting terrorism has not “result in sufficient improvements in Nigeria’s information sharing with the United States for border and immigration screening and vetting”.

The immigration visa ban on Nigeria and five other countries will take effect on February 22, 2020.