House Of Reps Member Disgraces Himself At US Embassy And Ends Up Being Denied Visa.
He arrived at the Consular office of the United States in
Abuja last week in a flowing agbada, bearing his self-importance on his
lapel.
By the time he left, however, a member of the House of Representatives
from the
South West cut a pitiable sight: He had been denied visa.
That was after he had banged tables and engaged consular
officers in a hot argument, consular sources confirmed. He had also
issued
several threats against the consular official who had demanded proof of
his claim
that he is a member of the Federal legislative body.
The lawmaker, names withheld, flew into a rage when asked to
produce his Certificate of Return, usually issued by the Independent
National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to successful election candidates.
In response,
he repeatedly told the
consular officer: "Don't you know I am the lawmaker of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria?" He banged the table several times, and the
official
told the Nigerian “Big Man”: "Do you know that I reserve the right to
deny
you or to approve your application?"
It was reliably gathered that the lawmaker continued to bang
the table and, the official subsequently drew the glass shield between
him and
the Nigerian big man, signifying the end of discussion.
A letter by the embassy refusing the visa application was,
however, silent on the dramatic exchange between the legislator and the
official. It simply read: "We have carefully examined your case and
regret
to inform you that you have been found ineligible for a non-immigrant
visa
under section 214[b] of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
"This may have been because you either did not
demonstrate strong ties outside the United States or you were unable to
demonstrate that your intended activities would be consistent with the
type of
visa for which you applied".
The letter continued: "To be eligible for a
non-immigrant visa you must show that you meet the legal requirement of
the
type of visa for which you applied and that you will depart the United
Sates at
the end of your authorised stay.
"Today's decision cannot be appealed. You are welcome
to reapply in the future, particularly if you feel there has been a
significant
change in your circumstances, or if you have additional compelling
evidence to
support your case that you did not present today".
When contacted, the lawmaker confirmed that he appeared
before the Consular office and that his application was refused. He
blamed the
refusal on the handlers of the application process who, according to
him,
"did not tell me what to say.
They did not tell me the documents to take alo
No comments:
Post a Comment