President Muhammadu Buhari has called for a lifting of the blanket visa ban clamped down on Nigerians by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The president, on Monday, said he made the request during a telephone conversation with the UAE president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
President Buhari said he called Sheikh Al Nahyan to commiserate with him on the death of his mother-in-law, Sheikha Maryam Al Falasi, during which important issues of mutual concern between the two countries came up.
He said the lifting of the ban was necessary because “Nigeria and the UAE have enjoyed excellent and beneficial relations for many years, including at the highest political levels. We can and must continue to iron out whatever issues arise between us.”
The president expressed the readiness of the Nigerian government to apply necessary sanctions through appropriate judicial processes against any Nigerian identified to have committed any crime in the UAE.
President Buhari said he also requested the resumption of the operations of the Emirates Airline which suspended flight operations to Nigeria in August 2022 over its $85 million blocked revenue.
He assured the UAE president that the issues that led to the suspension were “receiving appropriate attention” and promised to make additional foreign exchange available for affected airlines.
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