Nigeria Immigration To Process All Pending Passport Applications

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, has given the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) another two weeks to process all pending passport applications.

On Thursday, September 7, Ojo gave the directive during a meeting with Caroline Adepoju, Acting Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, in Abuja. The conference was also attended by Yinka Fisher, managing director of Iris Smart Technologies, the business in charge of producing Nigerian passport booklets.

The Minister stated that he made the decision to issue the directive in order to fulfill his promise to eliminate all impediments in the purchase of Nigerian passports and other immigration documents.

He said; “Delays in the processing and enrolment of passports in Nigeria have been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.

“Having to deal with about 200,000 backlogs calls for a national emergency. As far as I am concerned, the issue of passport is a national emergency; I keep getting emails daily from Nigerians complaining.

“We cannot continue like this. It has become an embarrassment to President Bola Tinubu. I represent him here as your minister.

“That embarrassment is mine now. I am not changing my words. I need the backlog cleared in two weeks. I get daily reports on enrolment from NIS on my phone. This is my best way to be in the know of the situation.

“Nigerians deserve the best. It is their right to own a passport if they can afford it. We will also ensure that our debts are cleared by November.

“My position remains that the delay in the process of obtaining the passport must end.”

Adepoju and Fisher promised the minister that all required resources and measures would be put in place to clear the passport application backlog.

Adepoju, who reported that there are now 200,000 enrolments across the country as of Thursday morning, stated that the NIS has secured enough booklets to clear the backlog.