Nigeria government has set up a committee to look into the immigrant visa suspension slammed on the country by the government of the United States of America.
A statement today, February 1, by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari established the committee in reaction to the US immigrant visa suspension which was announced yesterday, January 31.
He said that the Presidential committee is being Chaired by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
The committee, according to Adesina, is expected 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 U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had yesterday, announced temporary travel restrictions on six 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.
It was confirmed that the suspension does not apply to other U.S visas such as those for official, business, tourism and student travel.
The DHS had said that 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.
The statement from Adesina said that Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and its international allies, especially on matters of global security.
