The federal government of Nigeria has, through the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, addressed rumors of the lack of passports in the country.
In the statement issued by the Minister of Interior through his Media Adviser, Mr Sola Fasure disclosed that the federal government, in 2021, produced 1.3 million passports to Nigerians. He also added that the government has made efforts to tackle the issues of passport shortage and has cleared all backlogs of passport applications.
What’s more?
Mr. Rauf Aregbesola said “as at the second quarter of 2022, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has provided 645,000 passports out of the 750,000 applications received. We have also sent sufficient booklets to all the centres nationwide to address this challenge.”
- The Minister also tasked the new Port Harcourt passport production centre with the responsibility of producing passports for Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa.
- The Nigerian Minister also reaffirmed that a fresh application and renewal would take six weeks and three, respectively.
What you should know
The Federal Government through the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recently launched an e-Passport for its citizens in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The e-passport, as announced by NIS, comes with a ten-year validity.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had in 2021 launched the temporary electronic passport to help its citizens living in the diaspora to return home following several complaints of the non-availability of booklets in the countries they live. The enhanced launch announced by NIS yesterday is an improvement on the passport application process for Nigerians in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.
Why this matters
The federal government is engaging all possible solutions to ease the burden of securing a passport. And also, to eradicate the economy of corruption in the system.