{"id":68649,"date":"2025-06-20T13:15:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T13:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=68649"},"modified":"2025-06-20T13:15:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T13:15:31","slug":"nadeco-petitions-trump-seeks-visa-sanctions-on-akpabio-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/06\/20\/nadeco-petitions-trump-seeks-visa-sanctions-on-akpabio-others\/","title":{"rendered":"NADECO Petitions Trump, Seeks Visa Sanctions on Akpabio, Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adenike Lawal<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a bold move underscoring concerns about democratic erosion in Nigeria, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO-USA) has sent a formal appeal to U.S. President Donald Trump, urging his administration to impose a visa ban on three key Nigerian political figures: Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, and the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas.<\/p>\n

The petition, personally addressed to President Trump at the White House and signed by NADECO-USA Executive Director Lloyd Ukwu, accuses the three men of playing central roles in what it describes as an \u201cunconstitutional and undemocratic power grab\u201d in Rivers State.<\/p>\n

NADECO\u2019s letter references the March 18, 2025 declaration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in which he invoked emergency powers to suspend the elected Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, along with his deputy, Dr. Ngozi Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly.<\/p>\n

According to the coalition, this move violated both Nigerian constitutional law and globally accepted democratic standards.<\/p>\n

The letter further alleges that President Tinubu’s actions were only possible due to the backing of the National Assembly, particularly through the leadership of Akpabio and Abbas.<\/p>\n

It claims their support enabled the unlawful appointment of Vice Admiral Ibas as the state’s sole administrator a move seen as stripping the people of Rivers of their democratically elected representation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis imposition is not only a direct attack on democracy,\u201d the letter reads, \u201cbut also disregards the expressed will of Rivers State citizens who chose their leaders through legal, democratic processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

NADECO is requesting the U.S. government to impose visa restrictions not only on Akpabio, Abbas, and Ibas, but also on their immediate families.<\/p>\n

The coalition argues that such a step would send a powerful message from Washington in defense of democracy and constitutional rule in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the coalition disclosed ongoing efforts to pursue similar diplomatic actions with the United Kingdom and the European Union, pressing for parallel sanctions and travel restrictions on the same individuals.<\/p>\n

In its statement, NADECO reaffirmed its commitment to holding accountable those undermining Nigeria\u2019s democratic framework, both through international advocacy and legal channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States, as a global proponent of democracy, must not remain silent while these actions unfold,\u201d Ukwu stated, emphasizing that the call for sanctions reflects a broader struggle to preserve democratic governance not just in Rivers, but across the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole.<\/p>\n

This latest development comes in the wake of Admiral Ibas\u2019 recent N1.48 trillion budget proposal to the Nigerian Senate, which he controversially claimed accounted for Governor Fubara\u2019s anticipated reinstatement raising further questions about the legality and legitimacy of the current administrative structure in Rivers State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Adenike Lawal   In a bold move underscoring concerns about democratic erosion in Nigeria, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO-USA) has sent a formal appeal to U.S. President Donald Trump, urging his administration to impose a visa ban on three key Nigerian political figures: Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, and the Sole […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":68650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68651,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68649\/revisions\/68651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}