The UAE government has denied that the United Arab Emirates has lifted the 12-month visa ban on Nigerian travelers.
An official of the UAE has refuted this claim.
An official from the Gulf state who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity stated;.
“So far, the status of travel between Nigeria and the UAE has not changed.
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In October of last year, the UAE announced that it would stop issuing visas to nationals of Nigeria and 19 other African countries. It didn’t give any more information.
Before the UAE abruptly stopped granting Nigerians visas, getting a 30-day tourist visa was fairly simple.
On September 11, President Tinubu traveled to the UAE to meet with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in an effort to resolve the diplomatic problems.
Ajuri Ngelali, the President’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity, said in a statement that the meeting paved the way for the lifting of the visa ban and the immediate restart of flights between the two nations.
Although the UAE government did not mention the lifting of the visa ban or the restarting of flights, it did say that both leaders had “explored opportunities for further bilateral collaboration” during their meeting with the aim of “reinforcing ties between the UAE and Nigeria.”.
Later, in a statement that contradicted his earlier assertion, Ajuri said in an interview that Nigerians shouldn’t anticipate beginning travel to the UAE right away because officials from both nations needed more time to finalize the agreement’s details.
According to local media reports citing the Dubai Land Department, Nigerians were among the biggest foreign real estate investors in Dubai prior to the pandemic, with investments totaling nearly $2 billion. Before the ban, Emirates Airlines ran two daily flights from Lagos, Nigeria, to Dubai and one daily flight from Abuja, the nation’s capital, to Dubai.
