The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, to ensure swift clearance of over two hundred thousand international passports pending applications in two weeks.
The Minister gave the order during a meeting with top government officials, the Acting Comptroller General, Adepoju Carol, and the Managing Director of Iris Smart Technologies, a third-party company in charge of the production of passport booklets.
This is in furtherance of his promise to remove bottlenecks in the acquisition of passports and other immigration documents.
The Minister noted that delay in the processing and enrolment of passports in Nigeria has been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.
The Minister noted that having to deal with about two hundred thousand backlogs calls for national emergency.
According to him, the issue of passport is a national emergency hence delay of issuance cannot continue .
At the meeting, the Acting Comptroller General, Adepoju Caroline, and Managing Director of the company, Yinka Fisher, assured the Minister that all necessary resources and measures would be deployed to ensure expedited processing of these pending passport applications.
Adepoju disclosed that though the number of enrolment spilt into two hundred thousand across the country, the agency has been able to secure enough booklets to clear the backlog.
In a similar development, the Minister held a strategic meeting with the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Abdulganiyu Jaji; the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa; the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Audi.
In the meeting, the Minister issued a directive for the creation of a practical and executable roadmap that entails timelines, deliverables, and methodology.
The directive, according to the Minister, must be fulfilled within a four-week time frame.
PR Edited By Nkiru Njemanze
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