By John Ikani
The Federal Government of Nigeria has set a December 1 deadline for civil servants to be vaccinated.
Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, announced this at a briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.
“With effect from 1st of December, 2021, Federal Government employees shall be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result done within 72 hours, to gain access to their offices, in all locations within Nigeria and our missions abroad,” Mustapha said.
“An appropriate service-wide advisory/circular will be issued to guide the process,” he added.
Mustapha also revealed that the government has removed South Africa, Brazil, and Turkey from the list of countries where travellers have been restricted from coming into Nigeria as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that the decision followed an emergency meeting held before the briefing.
The PSC Chairman also commended the United Kingdom for reviewing its travel protocols which allowed fully vaccinated travellers from Nigeria to enter the country without having to self-isolate after their arrival.
Speaking on the diplomatic row with the United Arab Emirate (UAE) over travel ban due to testing conditions, the SGF said that the aviation authorities in collaboration with the diplomatic sector have made reasonable progress in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Discussions are still on-going with the UAE authorities to resolve the impasse,” Mustapha informed.
