Prior to this year’s elections in Nigeria, the US announced that it is limiting entrance to those “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Nigeria” and their family members. Following a vote on February 25, 2023, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will resign after serving two four-year terms.
The largest economy in Africa, Nigeria, is experiencing unheard-of levels of insecurity, which have led to attacks on the country’s election commission, including a bombing of its headquarters in one of the states last month.
According to Blinken, the visa restrictions are geared at “particular persons and not at the Nigerian people or the Government of Nigeria.” No specific objectives of the new policy, which would bar people from traveling to certain places, were mentioned in the announcement.
