Western nations are considering canceling the visa of two Nigerian political figures

Question

This tweet claims that the governor of rivers state and the independent national electoral commission chairman are in jeopardy of loosing their visas to countries like the U.S and Canada. However, it seems to only be a public petition to do so.

Answer 1

This is in fact a public petition that was started by Onyebuchi Ezeagabu. According to Sahara Reporters, "More than 101,000 Nigerians have signed an online petition demanding that the United Kingdom (UK), the US, Canada, Europe and Asia cancel the visa of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State." The reasoning behind this is that Wike is trying to dismantle the electoral process in Rivers State. Mahmood Yakubu's visa is also in jepoardy because he attempted to rig Nigeria's 2023 election as well. Change.org has petitions for both of these men; the petitions have been signed by over 200,000. 

https://saharareporters.com/2023/02/27/over-101000-nigerians-sign-petition-asking-uk-us-others-cancel-governor-wikes-visa

https://www.change.org/p/dear-ukinnigeria-usinnigeria-canhcnigeria-euinnigeria-and-asia-cancel-nyesom-wike-s-visa

https://www.change.org/p/let-usinnigeria-canhcnigeria-ukinnigeria-cancel-inec-chairman-mahmood-yakubu-s-visas

Comments

Great work with your explanation. You provided important details about the petition, the status of it, and the reasoning for it. And you have multiple source. Nice job. Going forward, please add a rating to your fact-checks (re: true, false, misleading/exaggerated, opinion, etc.).

Answer 2

You're right it is a public petition because a lot of people are not fond of him claiming Gov. Wike is destroying the elecoral process. Here is the link the an article from Punch Nigeria.

https://punchng.com/nigeriaelections2023-12404-sign-petition-to-revoke-wikes-visa-over-alleged-violence/

"Although the petitioners alleged that Governor Wike was destroying the electoral process in Rivers, The PUNCH could not confirm the veracity of their claims.

The progenitor of the petition, Onyebuchi Ezeagabu, alleged that Wike was “operating to destroy electoral process,” adding that the eligibility of the governor’s Visa and that of his family should be revoked."

So ultimately yes people are petitioning but as of right now that means he is not necessarily in jeopardy as there has been no further action taken.

Answer 3

This tweet is misleading, as it is only a petition asking for the removal of visas. As an update from the tweet, the Change.org petition has now reached over 260,000 signatures. There is still no response from the countries listed in the petition to the requests.

https://www.change.org/p/dear-ukinnigeria-usinnigeria-canhcnigeria-euinnigeria-and-asia-cancel-nyesom-wike-s-visa