The Federal Government said it has met with 90 per cent of the requirement stipulated by the United States government on information sharing and other demands on its visa and security policy.
Mustapha Sulaiman, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, disclosed this to journalists at the end of the inaugural meeting of the US/Nigeria Forum in Abuja on Wednesday.
The US government had announced a ban on some categories of migrant visas imposed on the country in January.
According to Sulaiman, the FG has put a lot of efforts in meeting the requirements which was why the US government is re-evaluating the visa restrictions.
He said: “We have accomplished so much within a very difficult year, but essentially, we want to acknowledge and put on record Nigeria’s response to the concerns by the United States government in respect of the immigrant visa restriction that was imposed on Nigerians.
“From the assessment of the recipient of our response, I think we have accomplished almost 90 per cent of the requirements that has been established in that regard.
“And I am sure that if you follow the information that has been passed on the level of compliance; for instance, sharing of information, we have done so much in that regard and that is why the US is re-evaluating us.”
The Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary said the consular forum would serve as a platform where both countries can progressively improve on bilateral relations and address concerns for the benefit of citizens.
“We have just had the maiden consular forum meeting today (Wednesday), and I want to put it on record that it has been a very successful meeting with various issues that were discussed,” he said.
Also speaking, Mary Leonard, the US ambassador to Nigeria, commended Nigeria on the progress made in information sharing and other concerns raised by the US government which led to the ban.
She explained that the US Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State will prepare a report addressing the measures that have been taken and then submitted to the White House for re-evaluation.
She said: “I have to congratulate Nigeria on its progress on greater information sharing with the United States, which is the crux of a lot of issues dealt with in these presidential proclamations.
“We have reviewed the Federal Government’s report on information sharing and we are inspired by the strides that Nigeria has made to improve access to stolen and lost travel documents.
“I’m particularly, encouraged by the September 7 announcement that the US-provided INTERPOL router is successfully connected to Nigeria’s Immigration Service and National Bureau in Abuja.
“Washington is extremely pleased about that development in particular.”
