The Presidency on Wednesday said that it has read the news of Nigeria being among the countries in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe being considered for travel restrictions by the United States of America, but will not react to the speculation yet.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in his reaction to the alleged planned travel restrictions of some countries by the Donald Trump administration as reported by the U.S. media said that the Federal Government would wait to watch the unfolding events.
Garba in the statement said, “Yes we have read the news that the Trump administration is planning to add a host of African, Asian and Eastern European countries to its travel restrictions list as reported by the U.S. media.
“We are not going to react to speculations. We urge you to wait for us to see what unfolds under the new policy, its scope, its reach, the implications and its consequences before we react.”
There is the media report that President Donald Trump, has confirmed that the United States has plans on expanding a controversial travel ban to include more countries.
President Trump reportedly revealed this in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The U.S. President, however, did not list the countries that will be included in the new announcement.
U.S. news platform, Politico hinted the announcement was expected on Monday, the three-year anniversary of the original order, which targeted several majority-Muslim nations.
The order was announced without warning on January 27, 2017, some days after Trump resumed office as the 45th President of the United States. The included five majority-Muslim countries are: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
A senior Trump administration official reportedly said that countries that failed to comply with security requirements, including biometrics, information-sharing and counter-terrorism measures, faced the risk of limitations on U.S. immigration.
Belarus, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania are among the countries that may be included in the lists.
