Atiku scoffs at Tinubu’s ‘embarrassing’ UAE visa ban lift fiasco
Atiku scoffs at Tinubu’s ‘embarrassing’ UAE deal without foundation
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has scoffed at the announcement by President Bola Tinubu the United Araba Emirates had lifted the visa ban on Nigeria, which turned out a story aimed at media optics without foundation.
Tinubu had visited Abu Dhabi on his was from the G20 Summit in New Delhi after which he announced through his spokesman Ajuri Ngelale last week his talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan led to the nearly one-year ban being lifted with immediate effect.
Ngelale said both Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways had also agreed immediate resumption of flight operations in Nigeria.
Stakeholders, politicians, and other Nigerians gave kudos to Tinubu for tackling the problem his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari neglected.
However, it took only a few hours for the claim to unravel as both airlines did not confirm resumption of flights in Africa’s most lucrative travel market and the UAE authorities also failed to confirm the deal.
“There are no changes on the Nigeria/UAE travel status so far,” a UAE official later told CNN.
Then Abuja officials scrambled to work back the announcement from Aso Rock. Both Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggarand Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo put a gloss on it on national television by saying the details are still being worked out.
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Government by lying in quest for public ratings
Atiku issued a statement through his Media Aide Phrank Shaibu which described the development as “embarrassing” to Nigeria and Nigerians, per TheCable.
He said the “false” claim by the Tinubu administration announcing the UAE had lifted the visa ban is “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Shaibu recounted how, “last month, the NNPC [Nigerian National Petroleum Company] claimed to have obtained a loan of $3bn with which it would help stabilise the naira.
“We raised the alarm that it was all a ruse to deceive Nigerians. Now, we have been justified as the naira is now approaching $1/N1,000 on the black market.
“After his trip to the UAE, Tinubu claimed the visa ban had been lifted immediately. Now, they have shifted the goalpost after the UAE authorities revealed that the news was false.
“This is the sort of embarrassment Nigeria will continue to attract in this season of balablu.
“The report by FTSE revealed that Tinubu’s so-called FX unification policy was failing and Nigeria was degraded from frontier market to unclassified.
“Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy without any plan whatsoever and decided to hand over a few bags of rice to millions of poor Nigerians.
“To date, the minimum wage remains N30,000 or $31 per month based on the parallel market exchange rate.”
