Eko Hot Blog reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has not lifted its visa ban on Nigerians, contrary to speculations that it has done so.
Some media reports on Tuesday evening had claimed that the UAE had announced the restoration of visa services for Nigerians.
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The reports quoted a fake joint statement by Nigeria and the UAE.
The fake statement noted that visa issuance commenced on March 4 after discussions between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.
However, the Nigerian president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has disowned the fake statement, saying neither the Nigerian nor the UAE government authorised it.
“UAE has not resumed visa issuance to Nigerians,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The document in circulation is not authorized either by the Nigerian government or the UAE.”
Recall that the UAE had in 2022 banned about 20 countries, including Nigeria from travelling to Dubai, leading to a diplomatic row between the two nations.
However, in September 2023, Tinubu visited the country and engaged in diplomatic talks with the country’s leaders.
The Nigerian leader told UAE that both nations should agree on core aviation and immigration issues
“We are a family with the UAE. We only live in separate rooms, but we are in the same house,” he said.
At the time, the presidency erroneously claimed that both countries had agreed to resume visa issuance, saying airlines were to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria.
However, the president’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, later walked back his misleading statement, saying he did not mean that things would go back to “business as usual”, especially as it concerns UAE visa applications and processing.
“Every agreement comes with mutual responsibility. There is no free lunch. What I mean by that is the notion that floodgates will open up and we go back to business as usual. That is not what Nigerians should expect. I want to be very clear about this so that everybody can understand,” Ngelale told Channels TV.
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Since that time, the UAE has not shifted its position, leaving the visa ban in place. It’s not immediately clear why the presidency claimed that the ban had been reversed.
Editor’s Note: An earlier story on our website claimed that the visa ban was lifted from March 4, 2024. However, we later found out the source was not genuine. We have removed the story. We apologise for the error.
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