The minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo says the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will in a short time lift the visa restriction on Nigerian travellers.
Keyamo made his remark on Saturday during an interview with the State House media.
The aviation minister said that Nigeria has observed all protocols to expedite the visa ban reversal.
“We have done everything. We have resolved everything. Just wait for the announcement from the UAE government, and that announcement is imminent,” Keyamo said.
“They would announce. I want to give it to them to announce the date.”
Keyamo said that he is privy to the date when the travel restriction will be officially lifted, but would, however, wait for the official announcement.
UAE and Nigeria have been having a diplomatic fracas over flight allocations since 2021.
On December 13, 2021, UAE issued a travel ban on travellers from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, indicating a surge in the countries’ COVID-19 cases from passengers of the two African nations.
On the other hand, it was reported the travel embargo might not be unconnected with the diplomatic ruckus between Nigeria and UAE following Air Peace’s flight frequency to the Arab nation.
On March 5, the presidency released a document announcing that the ban has been lifted, but, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, made clarification that the document was not endorsed by the Nigerian and UAE governments.
Similarly, on May 23, the federal government said the UAE visa ban on Nigerians has been resolved and an announcement is impending.