The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration following Japan’s denial of reports that it planned to create a special visa category for Nigerians.
The party’s interim spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused the government of deliberately chasing cheap publicity with misleading claims.
During the 9th Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) unveiled the ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ initiative to strengthen exchanges between African countries and Japanese local governments. Under the programme, Kisarazu was designated as Nigeria’s “hometown,” while Nagai was linked to Tanzania, Sanjo to Ghana, and Imabari to Mozambique.
On August 22, the Nigerian presidency, in a statement signed by State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye, announced that Japan had agreed to create special visas for skilled Nigerians under the initiative—a claim that was widely reported locally and internationally.
However, the Japanese Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed the claim, stressing that there were “no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries.”
It clarified that the ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ project is strictly aimed at cultural and local government exchanges and does not include any special immigration concessions.
Reacting to Japan’s recent clarification, ADC, Abdullahi slammed the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government’s narrative, accusing them of fabricating information to bolster their image.
He said: “At #TICAD9, the APC Federal Government claimed that the Japanese authorities had agreed to issue ‘special visa categories’ to Nigerians.
“This denial by the Japanese authorities shows that the Tinubu/APC government has become so desperate for positive headlines that they would not mind spreading #FakeNews.”
He added that such behaviour by the government undermines trust in its statements: “The truth is, with this government, we don’t know what to believe anymore. This embarrassment just has to stop.” ADC
