Japan visa controversy: Tinubu government desperate for positive headlines, says Bolaji Abdullahi

Bolaji Abdullahi, the national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says the Bola Tinubu administration is desperate for positive headlines after Japan denied creating a special visa category for Nigerians.

Abdullahi was reacting to the Japanese government’s clarification that it is not creating a special visa category for Nigerians.

“On the other hand, there are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries, and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Abiodun Oladunjoye, director of information at the State House, had said in a statement that Japanese authorities would introduce “a special visa category for highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians who want to move to Kisarazu to live and work”.

The statement dated August 22 also claimed that “artisans and other blue-collar workers from Nigeria who are ready to upskill will benefit from the special dispensation visa to work in Japan”.

Abdullahi, a former minister of sports, said the denial by Japanese authorities was an indictment of the federal government.

“At #TICAD9, the APC Federal Government claimed that the Japanese authorities had agreed to issue “special visa categories” to Nigerians,” he wrote on X.

“This denial by the Japanese authorities shows that the Tinubu/APC government have become so desperate for positive headlines that they would not mind spreading #FakeNews.

“The truth is, with this government, we don’t know what to believe anymore. This embarrassment just has to stop.”