The Federal Government has secured an agreement with the United Arab Emirates, (UAE), granting Nigerian passport holders access to visas for travel to the country, effective yesterday, July 15, 2024.
Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, announced this development yesterday, while addressing State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Recall that in October 2022, the UAE banned citizens from approximately 20 African nations from entering its borders.
Among the affected countries are Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, and the Dominican Republic. ?The Emirati authorities issued a notice to trade partners and travel agents, instructing them to reject all applications.
Since the ban, the UAE and Nigeria have been embroiled in a diplomatic dispute concerning flight allocations and travel restrictions.
?President Bola Tinubu had in August 2023 waded into the dispute between the UAE and Nigeria over the issuance of visas, as well as the face-off with Emirates Airlines that had made the carrier stop flights into Nigeria.
In June 2024, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, confirmed that the face-off between the country and the UAE had been settled.
