January 26,2023

SaharaReporters on Wednesday reported that barely one month before the general elections, the U.S. government placed visa restrictions on Nigerians acting to undermine the country’s democracy.

Bruce Fein, a U.S. national and lawyer for Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said Nigeria has been known for choosing violence and bribery over democratic processes, hence, there is no need for his country to impose a visa ban on any Nigerian who thwarts democratic process of the forthcoming 2023 general elections

SaharaReporters on Wednesday reported that barely one month before the general elections, the U.S. government placed visa restrictions on Nigerians acting to undermine the country’s democracy.

According to the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who announced the visa restriction in a statement on Wednesday, some affected persons’ family members will also be sanctioned

We are committed to supporting and advancing democracy in Nigeria and around the world. Today, I am announcing visa restrictions on specific individuals in Nigeria for undermining the democratic process in a recent Nigerian election.

“Under Section 212(a)(3)C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, these individuals will be found ineligible for visas to the United States under a policy to restrict visas of those believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Nigeria.

“Certain family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions. Additional persons who undermine the democratic process in Nigeria—including in the lead-up to, during, and following Nigeria’s 2023 elections—may be found ineligible for U.S. visas under this policy,” the statement read.

But reacting to the U.S. decision, Fein said that the visa restriction is another blunder by the US State Department, adding that the only way to start democracy in Nigeria is through a Biafran sovereignty referendum.

Fein wrote on his Twitter page saying, “Another U.S. State Department blunder over Nigeria—denying visa eligibility to Nigerians implicated in undermining a faux democracy.

“Nigeria has always abandoned democratic processes for violence and bribery. The place for democracy to start is a Biafran sovereignty referendum