The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the era of waiting for months to get their passports is over while announcing a two-week timeline for the processing of passport applications.
This was made known by the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Wednesday in Abuja while speaking to newsmen about his earlier directive to the Nigeria Immigration Service to clear over 204,000 backlogs of passport applications.
He said, “On September 7, we made a promise to sort out the backlogs in two weeks, but we made it in three weeks, and I sincerely want to apologize to Nigerians for that.
“For us, we are assured that if it can work in the NIS, it can work anywhere else. Nigeria is undergoing a process.
“We inherited 204,332 enrolments without passports being issued, people that had applied and captured. That was the figure, and we gave a marching order because the President was also on our necks to bring solutions and succor to Nigerians.
“We went into strategic meetings with the NIS, and with the support of our service providers, we were able to increase printing machines to four in passport offices where we had two. Our service providers gave us the machines at no cost.
“The NIS personnel were doing three shifts, working 24/7 to make sure that we cleared the backlogs and to ensure that we never again had backlogs of passport production.
“We want to ensure that nobody waits for more than two weeks to get their passports.
“As of October 1, we had cleared all the 204,332 backlogs, and from the records produced by the NIS, the number of passports already collected is 91,981. Outstanding but available: 112,300
Dr. Tunji reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment not to hike the cost of passport applications despite the high rate of foreign exchange.
The minister also expressed his firm belief that the passport-capturing process would improve in the next few months, stating that people would no longer need to go to NIS centers for capturing but would do that online.
According to him, applicants would only be required to visit the passport offices for their biometrics enrollment.
“Hopefully, by December, people will not need to go to passport offices when they are snapping or taking pictures. This is 2023. People will be able to upload their passport photographs online with specifications.
“When you apply for a visa, you do that, and we are advancing in that line. Also, your supporting documents should be uploaded online so that when you go to the passport office, it will just be for biometrics, and within five minutes you will be left there.”
