After months of waiting, Nigerians can finally collect them as the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) announced that the backlog of passport applications has been cleared.
Dotun Aridegbe, a Deputy Comptroller of Immigration and spokesperson for the Immigration Service mentioned during an exclusive conversation with The Guardian that: “the days of passport backlogs are now over.”
This achievement comes after Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, instructed the NIS to clear the over 200,000 pending applications within two weeks.
Tunji-Ojo issued the order in a meeting with Caroline Adepoju, Acting Comptroller-General of NIS, right after assuming office in Abuja.
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Yinka Fisher, Managing Director of Iris Smart Technologies, the company responsible for producing the booklets, also attended the meeting where the order was given.
Tunji-Ojo stated that the order was made to fulfil his promise of removing obstacles in obtaining Nigerian passports and other immigration documents.
To comply with the minister’s directive, Adepoju mobilized a full-scale implementation team within the NIS hierarchy, which achieved remarkable success.
Aridegbe urged Nigerians who have applied and have not yet collected them to visit the passport offices to do so. He assured applicants that the NIS is working tirelessly to ensure their satisfaction.
“Please help us tell applicants whose passports have not been collected to go and collect them. We are working round the clock to make applicants happy.” He said to the Guardian.
With the backlog cleared, Nigerians can now obtain their international passports promptly without unnecessary delays.
