UAE Lifts Travel Ban On Nigerians

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have reached an agreement to lift travel restrictions on Nigerians with immediate effect.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced this development to State House correspondents on Monday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

According to the Minister, Nigerian passport holders can now travel to the UAE starting immediately. He stated, “Today an agreement has been reached with the UAE effective from today July 15, Nigerian passport holders intending to travel to UAE can do so.”

Recall that on December 13, 2021, the UAE imposed a travel restriction on passengers from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, citing a surge in COVID-19 cases among travelers from these two African nations.

The situation for Nigeria was further complicated by a diplomatic dispute between Nigeria and the UAE concerning the flight frequency of Nigeria’s Air Peace to the UAE and funds owed to UAE’s Emirates Airlines, which were trapped in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the time.

Air Peace had requested three weekly flights to Sharjah Airport, but the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) granted only one. The GCAA claimed that Air Peace could not expect to retain its flight frequency after withdrawing from Sharjah Airport, a claim the Nigerian airline denied.

In response, the Nigerian federal government reduced Emirates’ flight slots from 21 to one, leading the Dubai-based airline to suspend all flights to Nigeria.

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