The Federal Government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have reached an agreement vacating travel restrictions imposed on Nigerians with immediate effect.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, revealed this to State House correspondents on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Monday.
According to the Minister, effective immediately, Nigerian passport holders can now travel to the UAE.
He said, “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.”
LEADERSHIP recalls that on December 13, 2021, the UAE issued a travel restriction on passengers from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, citing a surge in COVID-19 cases among travellers from the two African nations.
Nigeria’s case was further exacerbated with ensuing diplomatic dispute between Nigeria and the UAE regarding the Air Peace’s flight frequency to the UAE and funds owed UAE’s Emirates Airlines 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 stated that Air Peace could not expect to retain its flight frequency after withdrawing from Sharjah Airport, a claim the Nigerian Airlines denied.
In response, the Nigerian federal government reduced Emirates’ flight slots from 21 to one, prompting the Dubai-based airline to suspend all flights to Nigeria.