The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has dismissed claims that its Chairman, the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, was denied U.S. entry visa.
This was made known in a statement issued by its Head of Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, on Saturday night in Abuja.
Bello-Barkindo said Fayemi retrieved his passport when the American Embassy indicated that the visa may not be ready by Friday, because he had a crucial engagement on Monday in South Africa.
“The NGF wishes to correct the mischievous report of 247Ureport on the United States’ visa application of its Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi.
“Fayemi, like every other Nigerian citizen intending to visit the U.S., applied for a visa, attended his interview and was requested to pay the statutory visa acceptance fee by the U.S. Consulate.
“The Governor’s visa application was not denied.
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“Anyone conversant with U.S. 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, Nov. 8, Fayemi retrieved his passport because of a crucial speaking engagement at the AfDB Africa Investment Forum in South Africa on Monday, Nov. 11.
“It is imperative to mention here that the NGF Chairman, Fayemi, only just returned from the U.S. where he attended the United Nation’s General Assembly where the NGF organised a high-level side meeting on the 27th of September 2019,” he said.
“Knowing Fayemi, it is virtually impossible to associate him with the uncouth behaviour that 247Ureports dramatised.”
