Trump Adds Nigeria to List of Countries Facing US Entry Restrictions Over Security Concerns

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a Proclamation further restricting entry to the United States for nationals from countries identified as high-risk due to “persistent and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing” that threaten U.S. national security and public safety. Nigeria is now included among 15 additional countries newly subject to partial travel restrictions.

The announcement, published on the White House website in a fact sheet titled “President Donald J. Trump Further Restricts and Limits the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States”, outlines the rationale for the move. It comes after Trump previously declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” on October 31, 2025, citing alleged persecution of Christians.

The Proclamation maintains full restrictions on nationals from the original 12 high-risk countries—Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—and adds five more: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. Countries previously under partial restrictions, Laos and Sierra Leone, now face full restrictions.

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The 15 newly restricted countries, including Nigeria, Angola, Senegal, Tanzania, Benin, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, are subject to partial limitations, with exceptions for lawful permanent residents, visa holders, diplomats, athletes, and individuals serving U.S. national interests. Case-by-case waivers remain possible.

The White House fact sheet emphasized that the measure is aimed at preventing the entry of foreign nationals for whom the U.S. lacks sufficient information to assess security risks, ensure cooperation from foreign governments, enforce immigration laws, and support national security and counterterrorism objectives.

Trump was quoted saying, “It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people.” The proclamation reflects ongoing efforts to restore travel restrictions on countries deemed a threat to American security and encourage compliance with vetting standards.

The fact sheet also highlighted specific challenges, including fraudulent or unreliable civil documents, high visa-overstay rates, terrorist activity, and non-cooperation with U.S. authorities, as reasons for country-specific restrictions. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan, previously restricted, has improved cooperation, resulting in partial lifting of its visa ban.

This latest travel restriction Proclamation underscores the Trump administration’s focus on border security, national safety, and stringent immigration vetting.

Trump Adds Nigeria to List of Countries Facing US Entry Restrictions Over Security Concerns

Senate Backs ₦54.46trn 2026 Budget, Cuts Oil Price Benchmark to $60

The stage is set for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to present the 2026 Federal Government budget following the Senate’s approval of the 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

The Senate, during plenary, approved a total ₦54.46 trillion 2026 budget, endorsing key fiscal and macroeconomic parameters despite concerns over a massive revenue shortfall recorded in 2025.

Under the approved framework, capital expenditure was pegged at ₦20.131 trillion, recurrent expenditure at ₦15.265 trillion, statutory transfers at ₦3.152 trillion, and Sinking Fund at ₦388.54 billion.

Lawmakers also approved an oil price benchmark of $60 per barrel, revised downward from the executive’s proposed $64.85, alongside projected aggregate revenue of ₦34.33 trillion, a fiscal deficit of ₦20.13 trillion, borrowings of ₦17.88 trillion, and debt service obligations of ₦15.52 trillion.

Other approved assumptions include crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, inflation rate of 16.5 per cent, exchange rate of ₦1,512 to the dollar, and GDP growth rate of 4.68 per cent for 2026.

The approval followed the consideration of a report presented by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger East). The committee recommended downward adjustments to oil price benchmarks in response to global geopolitical tensions and volatility in the international oil market.

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The Senate also sustained projections for crude oil output, exchange rates and inflation for 2026–2028, citing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s stabilisation policies and ongoing economic reforms. Lawmakers expressed optimism that tax reforms would drive economic growth and improve revenue performance.

The committee further urged the Federal Government to implement a National Scanning Policy under the National Single Window of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to boost revenue assurance, reduce leakages, enhance transparency and strengthen national security.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed that the Federal Government recorded a significant revenue shortfall in 2025, with actual inflows estimated at ₦10.7 trillion against a projected ₦40.8 trillion.

Speaking before the House of Representatives Committees on Finance and National Planning, Edun attributed the shortfall largely to weak oil and gas revenues, especially Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Company Income Tax (CIT) from oil companies.

Despite the revenue gap, Edun said the government met key obligations, including salaries, statutory transfers, and debt servicing, through prudent treasury management.

He cautioned against rigid expenditure commitments tied to oil revenue projections, urging flexibility in spending plans amid recurring revenue underperformance.

Also speaking, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said the MTEF/FSP emerged from broad consultations and balanced conservative revenue assumptions with ambitious targets aimed at improving agency performance.

Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, stressed the need for critical scrutiny to prevent bloated budgets and ensure fiscal decisions that would move Nigeria’s economy forward.

Senate Backs ₦54.46trn 2026 Budget, Cuts Oil Price Benchmark to $60

Inflation, Insecurity Drive Nigerians into Worst Survival Crisis in History – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a grim warning that Nigerian workers and the wider population are grappling with the worst survival crisis in the country’s history, driven by soaring inflation, deepening insecurity, poor wages, and the collapse of social protection systems.

The labour union said Nigerians are now worse off than workers in several African countries, including war-ravaged nations such as Somalia and Sudan, stressing that financial insecurity has become the defining reality for millions of households.

In a review of the nation’s economic and social conditions, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the current hardship surpasses the suffering experienced during the civil war era and past austerity measures, warning that daily survival has become a relentless struggle for workers.

According to Ajaero, Nigerian workers now sit “at the bottom of the ladder” compared to their African counterparts, as income from work no longer meets basic needs such as food, shelter and transportation. He noted that many workers are heavily stressed, unable to save, accumulate assets or plan for the future.

The NLC linked the crisis to the combined effects of widespread insecurity, including Boko Haram, ISWAP terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping, alongside worsening financial insecurity, which it described as both a consequence of violence and an independent driver of hardship.

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The union said Nigeria’s inflation rate, estimated at over 30 per cent in 2024, has severely eroded purchasing power, despite official claims of easing inflation by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It added that real wages have stagnated or collapsed, with salaries failing to keep pace with rising prices.

Ajaero described the ₦70,000 national minimum wage as grossly inadequate, noting that the cost of a single bag of rice now exceeds the minimum wage, a situation he said should “prick the conscience of any responsible leader.”

The NLC further blamed the crisis on currency depreciation, which has driven up the cost of imported goods, fuel and services, as well as repeated fuel price hikes that have increased transportation and production costs across the economy.

According to the labour body, food inflation has made proper nutrition inaccessible to many families, with households spending as much as 80 per cent of their income on food. Rising unemployment and underemployment have also expanded the pool of desperate job seekers, depressing wages and fueling insecure, low-paying informal jobs.

The Congress highlighted weak social safety nets, noting that unemployment benefits, health insurance and pension coverage remain inadequate for most workers, especially those in the informal sector. Even within the formal sector, contributory pension schemes were described as insufficient due to low contributions and economic volatility.

Other pressures identified include the high cost of housing and transportation, forcing some workers to stay at their workplaces for days because they cannot afford daily commuting, as well as multiple taxation and deductions that further reduce take-home pay.

The NLC also decried rising electricity and telecommunications tariffs, highway tolls, and the burden of privately funding basic services such as power, water, security and healthcare due to failing public infrastructure.

Ajaero warned that inflation, insecurity, and poor wages have trapped Nigerian workers in a vicious cycle of financial precarity, where saving and investment are impossible and daily survival takes priority.

He called on the Federal Government to take urgent and decisive action to stabilise the economy, raise real incomes and strengthen social protections, warning that failure to act would continue to undermine workers’ well-being and Nigeria’s broader economic future.

Inflation, Insecurity Drive Nigerians into Worst Survival Crisis in History – NLC

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