A Facebook post by Igbo Times Magazine published on January 24, 2025 stated that President Bola Tinubu has pulled Nigeria from the U.S. stocks, closed the country’s embassy in the U.S., and blocked sale of oil to the United States in response to Trump’s travel ban on Nigerians.
The post which had a picture of Tinubu and Trump had the caption, ““President Tinubu pulled Nigeria from U.S. stocks, withdrew Nigeria’s embassy from the U.S., blocked the sale of oil to the United States, and closed the Abuja State House in Washington, D.C., in response to Trump’s travel ban on Nigerians.” “Every action has a reaction, and two can play this game. Nigeria is not a small or insignificant country to be underestimated. If you impose sanctions on us, we will retaliate accordingly.” – Tinubu. full Details here 👇http://ak.choufoapsel.net/4/8508133”
A post with such international implications is worth verifying as it has generated a thread of responses on the page with others sharing it as well.
VERIFICATION
Did Trump place a ban on Nigeria?
Igbo Times Magazine claims the actions of President Tinubu were reactions to an alleged Travel Ban on Nigeria imposed by President Trump. It is important to note that the only time President Trump imposed a travel ban on Nigeria was about 5 years ago, during his administration as the 45th President of the United States of America.
On January 31, 2020, the US announced that it was expanding its curbs on immigration to include six more countries which included, Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar all who were to be blocked from obtaining certain types of visas and not a full ban.
Meanwhile, the most recent was when the US during the administration of Joe Biden on January 25, 2023 ahead of Nigeria’s general elections announced through the Secretary of States announced a ‘visa restrictions for those involved in undermining democracy in Nigeria,’ stating that, “The United States supports Nigerian aspirations to combat corruption and strengthen democracy and the rule of law”.
NV-A’s search through FOX NEWS’ website, a republic-leaning media platform showed no related news to a recent ban.The stories on Fox News in relation to the keywords “Travel Ban- Nigeria” were from 2021 and had nothing supporting the claim. This was also the case when the story was researched on CNN.
VERDICT
The claim that Trump placed a ban on Nigeria is FALSE as there are no recent news stories about a U.S. ban on Nigeria.
Did President Tinubu pull Nigeria from the U.S. Stock?
A thorough search of the internet reveals that there are no news item on President Tinubu withdrawing Nigeria from the U.S. Stocks. Also, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser Information and Strategy to the President, who usually shares press statements and other developments coming from his principal on X and other social media platforms has made a series of tweets but none was found on Nigeria being withdrawn from the “U.S. Stock,” since the inauguration of President Trump
The official X account of the Nigerian Presidency and that of the President did not share any related news on the purported claim. Meanwhile, a country cannot directly “stop” trading on the U.S. stock market but can significantly limit its citizens’ ability to trade on it through measures like imposing strict capital controls, sanctions against specific U.S. companies, or by making it very difficult to access U.S. brokerages, effectively creating a barrier to participation in the US market.
VERDICT
The claim that Tinubu pulled Nigeria from the U.S. Stock is FALSE.
Did Tinubu withdraw the Nigerian Embassy from the U.S.?
Contrary to the claim made by Igbo Times Magazine, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated President Trump in a statement on his inauguration, showing a cordial diplomatic relationship between both countries. Meanwhile, the X account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has continued to post updates on diplomatic developments between Nigeria and other countries but nothing from their page supports the claim that Tinubu’s administration has withdrawn the Nigerian Embassy from the U.S.
VERDICT
The claim that Tinubu withdrew the Nigerian Embassy from the U.S. is FALSE.
Did Tinubu close the Abuja State House in Washington D.C.?
The Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, D.C. is situated on a crest of a hill at 3519 International Court NW, in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC. However, there is no document that suggests it is called Abuja State House. Also, there has been no confirmation by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Nigerian Presidency that the embassy of Nigeria in Washington D.C. has been closed down.
VERDICT
The claim that Tinubu closed the Abuja State House in Washington D.C. is FALSE.
Did President Tinubu block the sales of Crude Oil to the U.S?
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited that operates Nigeria’s petroleum industry has released a couple of press statements since the date of President Trump’s inauguration updating Nigerians and its global audience on the developments from the nation’s oil and gas sector including its war on crude oil theft. However, it has not released any statements or hinted on the stoppage of business with the United States or its oil companies.
It is important to note that While congratulating President Donald Trump on his victory at the polls in 2024, President Bola Tinubu emphasised the need for a renewed U.S. – Nigerian relationship and during Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement signed by the Acting Spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa said Nigeria and the United States have enjoyed cooperation in diverse areas of mutual interest, especially promoting good governance, sustainable development, and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
The Nigerian government has been vocal on its interactions with the United States of America and is expected to maintain such tempo in the instance of any diplomatic development with the same country as well.
VERDICT
The claim that President Tinubu blocked the sales of Crude Oil to the U.S. is FALSE.
Advert by Trick
At the end of the claim, a link was provided for readers to supposedly get full details to the story, however, the link redirects to an online trading platform EXNESS.
Igbo Times Magazine has created false stories that are controversial in nature to lure people to the online trading platform as it did with the post that claimed Wizkid’s oldest son Boluwatife died in a plane crash or the one about Trump ordering the FBI to arrest the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Nyesom Wike, leading readers to the same website.
CONCLUSION
All the claims made by Igbo Times Magazine are FALSE. The Facebook page that posted the claim is well-known for using clickbait headlines and news stories to generate traffic to an online trading platform, EXNESS.
