THE United States Embassy in Nigeria has announced that it will halt routine updates on its social media channels following a lapse in US government funding, stemming from the ongoing budget deadlock in Washington.
The Embassy revealed this in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
“Due to the lapse in appropriations, this account will not be updated regularly until full operations resume, except for urgent safety and security information,” the social media post said.
It further stated that essential consular services such as passport issuance and visa processing will continue in the US, at embassies and consulates abroad, “as the situation permits.”
“At this time, scheduled passport and visa transit services in the United States and at U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas will continue during the lapse in appropriations as the situation permits.
“We will not update this account until full operations resume, except for urgent safety and security information. For information on our services and operating status, visit http://travel.state.gov,” the tweet read.
The announcement follows a US government shutdown that took effect early Wednesday after lawmakers and President Donald Trump were unable to reach a deal on the federal budget.
The stalemate revolved around democratic calls for increased healthcare funding, resulting in a suspension of financing for numerous government operations.
Both Republicans and Democrats have pointed fingers at each other for the deadlock, which is anticipated to impact hundreds of thousands of government employees and millions of Americans dependent on federal services.
The shutdown, set to halt operations across numerous federal departments and agencies, comes amid sharp partisan divisions in Washington, raising concerns about its duration and potential impact.
Trump warned that he would penalise Democrats and their supporters by targeting progressive initiatives and implementing widespread public sector job cuts, marking the first government shutdown of his current term since a similar halt during his previous administration.
“So we’d be laying off a lot of people who are going to be very affected. And they’re Democrats; they’re going to be Democrats. A lot of good can come from shutdowns,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, suggesting he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”
Government operations started to shut down at 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, following a last-minute but unsuccessful attempt in the Senate to approve a short-term funding measure that had already passed the House of Representatives.
The shutdown will not impact essential services, including the Postal Service, the military, and welfare programs such as Social Security and food assistance.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.