The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has issued two weeks ultimatum to the Nigeria Immigration Service to clear the over 200,000 pending passport applications before it.
Tunji-Ojo gave this order during a meeting with the Acting Comptroller-General of NIS, Caroline Adepoju, on Thursday, in Abuja.
The meeting was also attended by Managing-Director, Iris Smart Technologies, Mr Yinka Fisher, the firm in charge of the production of Nigerian passport booklets.
The minister explained that the order was in fulfillment of his promise to remove all bottlenecks in the acquisition of Nigerian passport and other immigration documents.
“Delays in the processing and enrolment of passports has 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 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 report 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,” he stressed.
Remarking, Adepoju and Fisher promised the minister that necessary resources and measures would be deployed to clear the backlog of passport applications.
Adepoju said though number of enrolment as at Thursday spilled into 200,000 across the country, NIS has secured enough booklets to clear the backlog.
Meanwhile, the Minister has held strategic meeting with the Controller-General of the Federal Fire Service, Abdulganiyu Jaji, that of Nigeria Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, and the Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Ahmed Audi.
He directed them to within four weeks, devise a practical and executable measures that entails timelines, approaches, deliverables, and methodology.
