Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The United States has said since March 11, 2019, it informed Nigeria and other countries affected by its recent visa ban of a change in its performance metrics for identity-management and information sharing criteria.

The United States made the disclosure in a proclamation published on the White House website.

The disclosure is coming even as President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, set up a committee to look into the issues that culminated in the issuance of the ban on immigrant visas to Nigerians by the United States.

In the proclamation, United States President Donald Trump, said the Acting Secretary, Homeland Security, had put in a report since September 13, 2019, where recommendations were made regarding the appropriate sanctions.

The US further said Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, including Sudan and Tanzania formed the list of countries that were the worst-performing in the world.

The United States, however, assured the affected countries that all hope was not lost, disclosing that there were rooms for near-term improvements.

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“The process began on March 11, 2019, when the United States government formally notified all foreign governments (except for Iran, Syria, and North Korea) about the refined performance metrics for the identity-management and information-sharing criteria.

“DHS identified the worst-performing countries for further interagency review and for an assessment of the potential impact of visa restrictions.

“In addition, the United States government, led by the department of state continued or increased engagements with many countries about those countries’ deficiencies.

“A number of foreign governments sent senior officials to Washington D.C., to discuss those issues, explore potential solutions, and convey views about obstacles to improving performance.

“As a result of this engagement, one country made sufficient improvements in its information-sharing and identity-management practices and was removed from consideration for travel restrictions,” the United States disclosed.

When contacted about the disclosure by the United States government, the spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, who is on an official engagement outside the country, said he could not react to the development.