The government of Nigeria has placed a travel ban on fifty prominent politicians as part of efforts to fight corruption.
The ban announced on Saturday affects former governors and former ministers, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The travel ban is being enforced under the Executive Order No. 6 issued by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Although the government hasn’t published the full list of those the ban affects, a local newspaper, The Nation has done so.
Most of the politicians affected are facing corruption charges in court. The government hopes to stop them from traveling abroad during their trials.
The biggest opposition party in the country, the Peoples Democratic Party has rejected the travel restrictions on the high-profile Nigerians.
A statement from the PDP said “We hope this is not a ploy to harm certain eminent Nigerians on the claims of resisting travel restrictions.
“The whole world can now see how fascism is fast taking over our democracy and judicial system and how the Buhari administration, by fiat, has directly ordered that citizens be secretly trailed.”
But the presidency has rejected claims it is victimizing its political opponents with the latest travel ban. The Presidency says the Executive Order 6 is not a political weapon against the opposition, the PUNCH reports.
The Buhari government says the ban is part of efforts to rid Nigeria of corruption.
Source: Africafeeds.com
