Tina Amanda
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola says there is no shortage of passport booklet across the nation, as widely assumed.
The Minister who disclosed this during the rollout of enhanced e-passport and commissioning of the passport production centre in Port Harcourt, which covers Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and the Rivers States, described those that peddle such passport shortage as unpatriotic and unscrupulous Nigerians.
According to him, the enhanced e-passport is a product of the latest technology which cannot be seen in most advanced countries, noting that the Ministry of Interior is leaving no stone unturned in the quest to make passports available for Nigerians who desired it.
Aregbesor however warned passport applicants against patronizing scammers as the process has been made easy for anyone to access and apply online which can only take three to six weeks for the passport to be processed while noting that the government is working hard to flush out the bad eggs in immigration services.
‘Passport is one of the most critical nationality documents a citizen should hold. It does not just allow the holder to cross national borders, it also confers nationality and citizenship rights to any holder. A passport is one valued and valid document a citizen must possess, outside the shores of Nigeria, the passport is your life, it validates one’s nationality.
“The importance of Passport service is a very critical one that should be handled with utmost care. The processes and procedures that would enable anyone to procure a Passport should be a product of diligence and transparency by those charged with the responsibility.
“There is no shortage of passport booklet, there may be human manipulation to cause a shortage, quote me; there is no shortage anywhere some Immigration officers may tell you that, do not believe them because there is no more wait and take a passport. It takes three to six weeks for the issuance or renewal of a passport.
“No fewer than N1.9 million passports have been issued to Nigerians between January 2021 and June 2022. A total of 1.3 million were issued in 2021 with no fewer than 650,000 booklets collected by Nigerians as of June 2022.
“To address the challenge of the backlog, the ministry has sent 11,000 booklets to Ikoyi, 11,000 to Alausa and 8,000 to FESTAC centres in Lagos.
“The opening of the centre in Port Harcourt does not confer any advantage or disadvantage on any of the centres, 10,000 booklets have been deployed to serve the four states with immediate effect.
“The enhanced ePassport is a product of the latest technology in Passport administration and issuance. The document is of higher grade with additional 25 security features than the current one. It is polycarbonate in design and therefore water-resistant. It is difficult to forge and cannot be compromised by any antics of counterfeiters and identity-fraudulent individuals.
“We shall continue to introduce innovations to passport procession, our challenges are inhuman the unscrupulous entities within and outside our services that cause a delay in the passport. We appeal to Nigerians to help us eliminate and identify the bad eggs, nobody should pay one Kobo to apply to get a passport.
“I will employ applicant to use the online to process do not patronize anybody or taunts, do not pay more than the required fees. The Ministry will have zero tolerance to any form of sharp practices capable of undermining the ongoing reforms any Personnel caught in such unprofessional acts will be seriously sanctioned.
He further called on prospective applicants to utilize the online platform and ensure that they provide correct personal information in their application forms for effective processing and issuance.
Also, Governor Nyesom Wike who was represented by Deputy Governor Dr Ipalibo Banigo, expressed happiness for the launch of the e-passport production centre in Port Harcourt, while assuring the state’s readiness to continue to support all relevant agencies in the State and called for the sustenance of the ongoing reform efforts in Passport administration and issuance to give it enduring human face and experience.
“Am very happy to hear that applicant of passport does not need the third party, we do hope by this all delay in passport process will be a thing in the past. We want to thank the Minister and his team for their work in national security and all the reforms, be rest assured that the place will be conducive for them to operate.
“With these reforms, Nigerians will be free from the shame of our people going round without passports. I want to thank you for the citizen-enhanced passport we are very delighted to launch this passport production centre in Port Harcourt”.
On his part, Comptroller General of Immigration Service, Isah Idris, said they are committed to all reforms as the enhanced e-passport is of different categories while noting that immigration services do not collect cash from any applicant as all payments should be made online.
“The enhanced passport facility we are rolling out here is one of such ongoing reform efforts to transform the entire Passport process and offer improved options to our citizens. With the rollout today, all our Passport Offices in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and of course Rivers have been fully migrated to the enhanced ePassport platform.
“Consequently, Passport applicants who intend to process their applications in any of these States are expected to complete their forms online (via passport.immigration.gov.ng), make payment and book appointments for biometric enrollment and only visit the Passport Office they have indicated for enrollment on their appointment date.
“They are also required to hold all the necessary documents as stated on the website to support their applications. Let me make it abundantly clear here that NIS does not accept CASH payments of any sort on any of our service windows including Passport.
“We do not expect anybody to give out any sum of money to anyone including our Personnel for Passport application. We are strongly committed to the reforms on the online application and payment processes to ensure that we eliminate all forms of unnecessary meddlesomeness which often promote some corrupt practices.
“I like to state that at the end of today’s event, we are optimistic that cases of delay in processing Passports will be adequately addressed and so applicants are encouraged to abide strictly by the application and processing guidelines and requirements as contained on our application portal. We expect applicants to turn in their requests in good time to allow for smooth and successful service delivery”.
