The Federal Government has rejected pressure from the United States to accept Venezuelan deportees, many of whom are ex-prisoners.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, made this known in an interview on Channels TV, describing the request as unfair and impractical. “We have our own challenges.
Accepting deportees from American prisons is not something Nigeria can handle,” Tuggar said. He warned that yielding could open the floodgates for similar future demands.
Tuggar also addressed concerns that Nigeria’s recent BRICS engagement may have triggered retaliatory measures from Washington, including visa restrictions and tariffs.
He denied any link between Nigeria’s diplomatic posture and the imposition of a 10% tariff on Nigerian goods, adding that visa changes announced by the U.S. were not due to Nigeria’s policies. “We issue Americans five-year multiple-entry visas; we expect the same,” he stated.
The minister affirmed Nigeria’s commitment to dialogue and diplomacy while urging fairness in bilateral relations. The U.S. Embassy recently reduced Nigerian visas to single-entry, three-month validity.
Tuggar assured that discussions were ongoing to restore mutual visa parity and address growing diplomatic tensions.
