FG gives NIS two weeks to clear 200,000 passport backlogs

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has been given two weeks to process the more than 200,000 pending passport applications that are currently on its desk by Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

The order was given by the minister on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with Caroline Adepoju, the acting comptroller-general of NIS.

Additionally present at the meeting was Yinka Fisher, managing director of Iris Smart Technologies, the organisation in charge of creating the booklets for Nigerian passports.
The minister claimed that by issuing the order, he kept his word to eliminate all obstacles to obtaining passports and other immigration documents.

“I keep receiving emails every day from Nigerians who are complaining; in my opinion, the passport issue is a national emergency. In this state, we cannot go on.

Bola Tinubu, the president, is now embarrassed by it. As your minister, I am presenting him here.

Now I’m responsible for that embarrassment. My language has not changed. The minister commanded that the backlog be finished in two weeks.

Daily updates on passport enrollments, according to Mr. Tunji-Ojo, are received.

We’ll make sure to pay off all of our debts by November as well. The delay in the passport application process must end, I continue to believe, he emphasised.

Ms. Adepoju and Mr. Fisher pledged in their remarks to the minister that they would use all available means to reduce the backlog of passport requests.

Read Also: Diphtheria: WHO urges Nigeria to increase routine vaccination

Although there are 200,000 enrolments nationwide as of Thursday morning, Ms. Adepoju revealed that the NIS has enough textbooks to finish the backlog.

In the interim, the minister met strategically with Ahmed Audi, the commandant-general of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Haliru Nababa, and Abdulganiyu Jaji, the controller-general of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Nigeria Correctional Service (NCOs), and the Federal Police Service (FPS).

He gave them a four-week deadline to create a realistic and actionable roadmap that includes timelines, approaches, deliverables, and methodology.