The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has spoken with Nigerian President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emphasize his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.
In a statement attributed to the office of the State Department Spokesman, Matthew Miller on Tuesday, Blinken noted that the US-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties.
The Secretary emphasized that this ties and those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubu’s tenure.
While both Nigerian and US leaders discussed importance of inclusive leadership that represents Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State announced that the United States has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on specific individuals in Nigeria for undermining democratic process during Nigeria’s 2023 elections cycle.
The Visa restrictions came a day before the Secretary Blinken had a discussion with Nigerian President- elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu to tighten the US-Nigeria relationship.
The United States said these individuals have been involved in intimidation of voters through threats and physical violence, the manipulation of vote results, and other activity that undermines Nigeria’s democratic process.
“Under Section 212(a)(3)C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, these individuals will be subject to restrictions on visas to the United States under a policy covering those believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy”.
In another vein, It was reported that some staff of US Embassy in Nigeria have been shot dead in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, source said the officials convoy came under fire as they were passing through the area.
“At least four persons were killed in the attack while others sustained injuries. Troops have taken over the community,” a security source said.
Also the US mission Nigeria confirmed the incident, saying its personnel were collaborating with Nigerian security operatives to get to the root of the matter.
“We confirm there was an incident on May 16 in Anambra state. U.S. Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.
“The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field. We have no further comment at this time,” the US Mission Nigeria spokesperson said during inquiry.