Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Nigeria is dead
Nigeria’s agencies, officials caused US visa restriction — Reps Buhari condoles Saudi govt over ambassador’s death
The Saudi Arabian Embassy has announced the death of its ambassador to Nigeria, Adnan bin Mahmoud Bostaji.
The ambassador was found dead yesterday morning in his room.
As of the time of filing the report, the cause of death was still not known.
A source told Daily Trust that his family travelled to Saudi Arabia few days ago and were not with him when he died.
Our reporters also gathered that arrangements were being made for his remains to be flown to Saudi Arabia last night.
The embassy, in a statement, said “with the deepest sense of sadness and complete submission to the will of Allah, the Royal Embassy announces the passing away of His Excellency, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Mr Adnan Mahmoud Bostaji”.
The late ambassador had met with First Lady Aisha Buhari in January in Abuja to strengthen humanitarian cooperation with her Future Assured Programme.
The House of Representatives yesterday alleged that due to some government agencies and officials’ tardiness, Nigeria was unable to meet the deadline for performance metrics, identity management and information sharing criteria which led to the visa restriction placed on Nigeria by the United States.
It urged the federal government to address the concerns raised by the United States Government which led to the visa restrictions placed on Nigerians.
This follwoed the adoption of a motion by Tajuddeen Yusuf who noted that the immigration restriction on Nigeria and other countries was a fallout of the alleged non-adequate data sharing on public safety and terrorismrelated information necessary for protection.
“While Nigeria, through relevant agencies and top officials was not able to meet the criteria, some developing nations like Chad and Belarus did the needful and were exempted from the immigration restrictions,” Yusuf said.
The house urged the executive to expedite action for the review or cancellation of the immigration restrictions by the US Government.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday commiserated with His Majesty, King Salman, the government and the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the death of the Ambassador to Nigeria, Adnan Mahmoud.
President Buhari, in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, described Mahmoud’s death as “a great loss of a passionate friend of Nigeria and a fine diplomat who identified himself with the progress and development of our country.
“The late Adnan Mahmoud was one of the finest diplomats I have ever met and his humility was one of his endearing virtues,” Buhari said in a condolence message.
According to him, the deceased had dedicated himself sincerely to promoting constructive and beneficial relationship between Nigeria and his country, “and we cannot therefore forget his remarkable achievements in forging closer ties between the two countries.”