President Bola Tinubu will meet with the leadership of the United Arab Emirates today, in a bid to resolve the Emirates Airline flight suspension to Nigeria, visa ban and other diplomatic issues.
Reports say that the Minister for Aviation and Aerospace management, Festus Keyamo, had yesterday night travelled to the Middle-East country to meet with the President who had a stopover after exiting the G20 summit in India.
Speaking with newsmen, Keyamo confirmed that officials of the two countries will meet by 5 pm today. Recall that the UAE imposed a visa ban on Nigerians in October 2022, shortly after Emirates Airlines suspended flights to Nigeria. The move was reportedly in response to Nigeria’s failure to repatriate billions of dollars in trapped funds.
Reports say that when he hosted Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Nigeria at Aso Rock last month, the President had directed that issues affecting relations with the Emirates Airline, and issuance of visas to Nigerians should be immediately resolved, emphasizing that he stands prepared to personally intervene.