Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has revealed that the United States is pressuring several African nations to take in deported Venezuelans, noting that such a demand would be challenging for Nigeria to accommodate.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Tuggar expressed strong reservations over the request, particularly regarding Venezuelans being deported directly from American prisons.
“You have to also bear in mind that the U.S. is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the U.S., some straight out of prison,” Tuggar said.
“It will be difficult for a country like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. We have enough problems of our own.
“We cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria, for crying out loud. We already have 230 million people. You will be the same people that would castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelans from U.S. prisons to be brought in.”
The minister cautioned that giving in to such a demand might set a troubling precedent.
“The issue of accepting Venezuelan deportees, honestly, I don’t think is something that Nigeria is in a position to work with. And I think it would be unfair to insist that Nigeria accepts 300 Venezuelan deportees. Maybe that might just even be the beginning,” he added.
Tuggar also addressed speculation linking recent U.S. tariffs to President Bola Tinubu’s engagement with the BRICS nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
According to him, the recently imposed 10 percent tariffs by the administration of former President Donald Trump may not be related to Nigeria’s interactions with the economic bloc.
“The issue of tariffs may not necessarily have to do with us participating in BRICS,” he clarified.
Further speaking on U.S. visa policies, Tuggar dismissed claims that recent changes were based on reciprocity, stressing that Nigeria offers American citizens similar or even more flexible visa arrangements.
“We are talking to the Americans. We are engaging them. We are also explaining and reminding them that we issue them five-year multiple entry visas, the same way that they issue regular travellers five-year multiple entry visas.
“What Nigeria has done that differs is simple. We used to have a visa-on-arrival that wasn’t running efficiently. We introduced these online electronic visas that you can apply so that it saves you time, instead of just arriving and then going through the process of getting the visa when you have already arrived.”
He explained that visa durations vary by category, noting that first-time or short-term visitors typically receive 90-day visas.
“We have different categories of visas. There are people that are first-time travelers that are coming as tourists that are probably not likely to come back to Nigeria again, maybe because they’re coming for a short while, and they get those 90-day visas.
“So our visa is not saying that every American is only being given 90-day visas or three months or whatever. We give Americans, there are loads of Americans, that have these long-term visas. It is not based on reciprocity,” Tuggar stated.
United States President, Donald Trump, in April, imposed a 10 percent baseline tariff on imports from 185 countries, with even steeper rates for select nations.
Nigeria was among those hit with higher duties, facing a 14 percent tariff under the revised trade regime.
In a related development, the United States Department of State has announced changes to its visa policy for Nigerian nationals.
In a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Abuja on Tuesday, it was disclosed that “most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.”
The new policy is already in effect.
However, the embassy provided a caveat, stating that “those US non-immigrant visas issued before July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity.”
