The federal government says the passport application processing period from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) will currently take six weeks.
Rauf Aregebesola, minister of interior, stated this is to ensure a seamless, transparent operation, also as”accord individual dignity to applicants and fulfil citizenship ethics in accord with the mandate of the ministry”.
According to a statement by Towoju Raphael, senior information officer at the ministry of interior, Aregbesola said it has become critical to review the ministry’s operations and rejig its method so as to offer excellent services to clients.
“A timeline is going to be adjusted for every program i.e., a collection date. This is six weeks, akin to that which obtains in other countries,” Aregbesola said.
“This is to permit sufficient time to investigate and validate personal information provided by the applicants.
“What we are driving at is the reassurance that comes from the assurance of certainty. If there are conditions that will make the date change, it is going to be conveyed to the applicant one week before the collection date.
“Applicants will have no basis for additional communication with officers, other than to complete their application process and leave the venue. The date for the collection of their passports or some other obstacle to the application will be communicated to them. The technologies for the efficient functioning of this system has been obtained and will be deployed.”
The minister added that the NIS will publish a list of the backlog of applications that are prepared, which have not been collected by the owners.
“They will probably be asked to visit the state commands to collect them,” he added.
Aregbesola also said efforts are to embed security operatives both”seen and unseen” in all passport offices.
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“We’ve had several challenges in the past, including lack of booklets, touting, racketeering, inflating the cost, passports being issued to ineligible persons, amongst others,” he said.
“They’ll wear body cameras. Those caught will be managed according to this law.”
The minister said an ombudsman will also be made for members of the public to receive reports and complaints on officers trying to deviate from prescribed guidelines and subversion of this process.
“Therefore, I am announcing a zero-tolerance stance to all kinds of touting. No candidate is going to be made to pay any illegitimate fees,” he explained.
In March, the federal authorities had unveiled the state passport processing centre of the NIS.
The centre, dubbed the”premium passport processing centre”, is expected to cater to Nigerians seeking to obtain their passports within a maximum of 72 hours.
