A United States District Court in Manhattan has nullified the Donald Trump administration’s policy suspending the processing and issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Nigeria.

In a ruling delivered on Friday, U.S District Judge, Jeannette Vargas, described the January directive by the State Department as patently unlawful and said it exceeded the statutory authority of Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

The policy, which took effect on January 21, had barred immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries on the grounds that they posed “a high risk for becoming a public charge” and relying on U.S government cash assistance.

Affected countries are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

President Donald Trump had early in the year, published a list of welfare dependent rates among immigrants, noting that about 33.3 per cent of Nigeria immigrants households received some form of public assistance.

According to the directive, older or overweight applicants can be denied, along with those who had any past use of government cash assistance or institutionalisation.

But delivering the judgement, Judge Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, held that the suspension ran afoul of federal immigration law, which expressly removed authority over consular processing of immigrant visas from the Secretary of State.

“The policy, which categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme,” she wrote.

The suit was filed by immigrant rights groups, Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, alongside U.S citizens sponsoring family members and visa applicants from the affected countries.

The State Department had, in a cable sent to U.S missions in January directed consular officers to refuse applicants whose visas were “print-authorized” but not yet printed.

It said the suspension was part of a full review to ensure the highest level of screening and vetting and to prevent foreign nationals from exploiting U.S welfare systems.

“Applicants from these countries are at a high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States,” the cable stated.

Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, had defended the move, saying: “The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generousity of the American people.

“Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”

President Trump has, since returning to office in January, pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown aimed at improving domestic security.

The political rhetoric ahead of the 2027 presidential election took a sharper turn weekend.

This is just as Nyesom Wike, Federal Capital Territory Minister, vowed to keep pressure on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.

The duo are the two leading opposition figures challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the nation’s number one job.

Wike is backing Tinubu’s re-election despite remaining a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said he was not interested in making his political opponents comfortable as the contest gathers momentum.

“My business is to make them not feel well all day, because they will be having high blood pressure. I guess that is my job, to make them have high blood pressure,” he said in Abuja.

The minister’s remarks underscored the increasingly combative nature of the 2027 contest, particularly as Atiku and Obi remain central figures in efforts to build an alternative political platform against the ruling party.

Wike, however, questioned the capacity of the opposition to mount a formidable challenge, pointing specifically to the prolonged crisis within the PDP.

He said the party would ordinarily have been regarded as Nigeria’s principal opposition force, but its internal divisions had prevented it from occupying that position effectively.

“Who is the opposition leader? Ordinarily, it would have been PDP, but because of the crisis we have had, you can’t see a formidable party that you will call the leading opposition party,” Wike said.

His comments came against the backdrop of his increasingly open support for Tinubu.

The development place Wike at odds with Atiku, who is now seeking the presidency on the platform of the African Democratic Congress.

Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party platform, is also positioning himself for another presidential bid in 2027.

Wike said the personal reaction of either politician to his attacks was irrelevant to him.

He argued that political contests were inherently adversarial.

“When you are having a contest with somebody, your business is not to make him feel well. Your business is to make sure that you beat him thoroughly,” he said.

The former Rivers State governor has recently intensified his criticism of Atiku, particularly over the former vice-president’s pledge to restore petrol subsidy if elected president.

Wike had described Atiku as “confused” over the promise.

He said that the presidential contest could drive politicians to make whatever promises they believe could secure electoral support.

His rivalry with Obi also predates the current 2027 alignment.

In October 2025, Wike dismissed Obi’s presidential ambition, referring to him as a “social media presidential candidate”, in another public attack that drew attention to the growing hostility between the two politicians.

Wike’s latest comments suggest that his role in the 2027 political contest will extend beyond his responsibilities as FCT minister, with the former governor openly positioning himself as a campaigner against opposition presidential contenders.

He said he would not hesitate to intensify his political attacks if he believed Atiku and Obi were already under pressure.

“In fact, if I knew how they feel now, I would add more crises for them,” Wike said.

About 60 worshippers are believed to have been kidnapped from the Central Mosque in Dekara town, Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

Report says the victims were kidnapped from worship place when terrorists, in a large number, struck while Jumu’at prayer was ongoing.

According to some sources, the terrorists shot sporadically before assembling some of the worshippers and leading them out of the mosque into the forest.

One of the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Borgu LGA recorded various incidents on insecurity, on Friday.

“So many things have happened in Borgu LGA today.( Friday,) Terrorists attacked three communities, including Dekara. In Dekara, they went to the Central Mosque while Jumu’at prayer was ongoing and kidnapped more than 60 people. But they did not injure anybody,” the resident said.