Controversial Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi has condemned the revocation of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s US visa as an alleged plot to silence opposition voices.
Soyinka revealed on Tuesday that his U.S. visa had been revoked.
Soyinka, who spoke during a media parley held at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos Island, stated that he was unaware of any wrongdoing that could have warranted the revocation.
He said the US Consulate informed him of the revocation in a letter dated October 23, 2025.
This has triggered reactions from some Nigerians on social media.
Gumi, in a post on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, likened the development to the revocation of his Saudi visa.
“It reminds me of my Saudi visa being revoked for no offence besides freedom of speech. Poor them. You can’t silence those who don’t need you to survive,” Gumi wrote on Facebook.
Soyinka had reportedly declined a visa re-interview invitation by the US Consulate in Nigeria in September, citing a lack of understanding of the invitation.
His visa was classified as B1/B2, a temporary, non-immigrant visa for travel to the United States for business or tourism.
In 2016, during Donald Trump’s first bid for the American presidency, Soyinka had threatened to tear up his “green card” if Trump emerged as the winner of the U.S. presidential election.
