In a statement posted on X on Friday, the embassy indicated that it would not disclose any specifics regarding visa statuses, citing “privacy reasons” as the rationale.
“The High Commission of Canada in Nigeria is aware of media reports related to planned travel to Canada by senior officials.
“However, for privacy reasons, we are unable to provide any comment on the status of visa applications of specific individuals.”
During the inaugural annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies (AANISS) in Abuja on Thursday, Mr. Musa disclosed that he and several officers had their visa applications to Canada rejected.
Mr. Musa mentioned that he was supposed to attend an event honoring war veterans in Canada but was unable to do so due to the visa denial.
“Every disappointment is a blessing,” he said while speaking on the incident. “Yesterday, I was meant to be in Canada. There’s an event to honour our veterans, those that were injured during battles, and we were meant to be there.”
He added, “We were invited with our team. Half has gone, and half has been denied. It’s very disappointing.”
Error in application
However, a report from The Nation newspaper suggests that the visa denials were attributed to a diplomatic error in the applications submitted by the officers.
The report cited a Nigerian government source who indicated that the errors originated from the desk officer responsible for filing the visa applications. It was also noted that the government is currently collaborating with the embassy to rectify the situation.
“There was no Note Verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contrary to the existing protocol for any trip by high-ranking government officials,” the Nation quoted the source as saying.
Reactions
The Canadian embassy faced criticism from high-ranking government officials following Mr. Musa's disclosure.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu expressed strong disapproval of the Canadian government's decision to deny visas to Mr. Musa and other senior military personnel.
“Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell,” the NSA said.
In a similar vein, Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo described the refusal of a visa to a senior official as an affront to the nation as a whole.
“As much as we are not ready to dabble into the sovereignty or sovereign issues of other nations, issues of visas or the issue of migration management is a sovereign matter and the right of every country.
“As much as we don’t want to dabble into that, it is not a disrespect to the Chief of Defence Staff; to me, without knowing the facts, it is disrespectful to the country, and it is disrespectful to us as a people,” he stated.