President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Monday, September 12, be meeting with the leadership of the United Arab Emirates in a bid to resolve the Emirates Airline flight suspension to Nigeria, visa ban and other diplomatic issues
The Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, on Sunday, made the announcement.
Also, the Minister for Aviation and Aerospace management, Festus Keyamo, on Sunday night, travelled to the Middle-East country to meet with the President who had a stopover after exiting the G20 summit in India.
Keyamo also confirmed on his X page, (formerly known as Twitter) that the officials of the two countries will meet by 5:00 pm.
“I am in Abu Dhabi to join Mr President to sort out the twin issues of Dubai visas and Emirates flights to Nigeria. Both leaders are meeting by 5 pm Today,” the minister said.
UAE imposed a visa ban on Nigerians in October 2022 and shortly after, Emirates Airlines suspended flights to Nigeria.
The move was reportedly in response to Nigeria’s failure to return billions of dollars in trapped funds.
Also, Air Peace, which was also operating in Dubai, similarly suspended its flight as the UAE stopped the issuance of visas to prospective travellers.
President Tinubu, when he hosted the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, at Aso Rock last month, directed that issues affecting relations with the Emirates Airline and issuance of visas to Nigerians should be “immediately’’ resolved, emphasizing that he stands prepared to “personally’’ intervene.
“We are a family in the UAE, we only live in separate rooms, but we are in the same house. We should look at the issues as a family problem, and resolve it amicably. As you know in every family, there are peculiarities. You can have an erring son or daughter, but we must work together. We need to agree on core aviation and immigration issues,” Tinubu said.
Chioma Kalu
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