The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted the visa restriction on Nigerian travelers. The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this on Monday when he briefed State House correspondents following the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. In October 2022, the UAE banned citizens from approximately 20 African nations from entering its borders. Among the affected countries are Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, and the Dominican Republic.
The Emirati authorities issued a notice to trade partners and travel agents, instructing them to reject all applications. Since the ban, the UAE and Nigeria have been embroiled in a diplomatic dispute concerning flight allocations and travel restrictions.
President Bola Tinubu had in August 2023 waded into the dispute between the UAE and Nigeria over the issuance of visas as well as the face-off with Emirates Airlines that had made the carrier stop flights into Nigeria.
In June 2024, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, confirmed that the face-off between the country and the UAE had been settled.