NGF Speaks On US Denying Gov Fayemi Visa

The Nigeria Governors Forum has denied reports that Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State was denied visa by the United States of Ameria embassy in Nigeria.

An online platform (not Naija News) had claimed that Fayemi, the Chairman of the NGF, was denied a visa to the US.

But in a statement on Saturday by the NGF Head of Media, Abduk-Razaque Bello-Barkindo, the forum described the report as misleading.

Bello-Barkindo said the planned trip to the US was at the instance of the Aliko Dangote Foundation in concert with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and it is on course.

The statement said, “Governor Fayemi, like every other Nigerian citizen intending to visit the US, applied for a visa, attended his interview and was requested to pay the statutory visa acceptance fee by the US Consulate.

“The governor’s visa application was not denied.

“Anyone conversant with US Visa application procedure knows that applicants are now routinely taken through administrative processing before visas are issued.

“When the American Embassy indicated that the visa may not be ready by Friday, November 8, Dr Fayemi retrieved his passport because of a crucial speaking engagement at the AfDB Africa Investment Forum in South Africa on Monday, November 11 2019.”

The NGF said the report was mischievous as there was no basis to deny Fayemi Visa as he had just returned from a trip to America.