Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka announced at a press conference that his United States visa has been revoked by the US Consulate General in Lagos.

Soyinka read verbatim from a letter dated October 23, 2025: “This letter serves as official notification by the United States Consulate General in Lagos that the nominated Visa listed below has been revoked per the US Department of State regulation and is no longer valid for application for entry into the United States… Additional information became available after the below Visa was issued.”

The 91-year-old playwright provided context for his visa history, explaining that his green card had “an accident” years ago and was no longer valid. Shortly after, he received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service announcing an audit of his tax returns going back five years.

“There’s an interesting coincidence about this that I got that notice they were coming to audit just after ‘an accident’ happened to my green card,” Soyinka said. He visited the US Embassy to clarify his situation, stating he didn’t want to be “advertised as a tax dodger, owing the United States money and being chased all over the world with their letters and police.”

Soyinka emphasized that US consulate staff treated him well during that visit. “I was treated, you know, like a human being. Let’s just put it that way, which is the way I believe all African applicants should be treated,” he said. Following the audit, he was issued a B1/B2 tourist/business visa.

The author addressed rumors that he destroyed his green card after Donald Trump’s first election, clarifying with characteristic humor: “I predict that his first mission in office would be to prove [that no condition is permanent] by withdrawing all permanent documents, all so-called permanent documents… Unfortunately, when I was looking at my green card, it fell between the fingers of a pair of scissors, and they got cut into a couple of pieces. What happened? It just had an accident. That’s all.”

Soyinka, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, is the first African to receive the honor. He is widely regarded as one of Africa’s most important literary figures, with works including Death and the King’s Horseman, The Lion and the Jewel, and Aké: The Years of Childhood.

No further details were provided about what “additional information” led to the visa revocation.