NIS plans end of Nigerian passport scarcity in March

The delay in issuance of Nigerian passport will end by March.

Giving the assurance, the Acting Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Isa Idris told a virtual media conference that the introduction of improved electronic passports was part of the measures now in place. 

Idris also said that those who have difficulty renewing their international passports or obtaining new ones will be selected as measures are put in place to ensure their availability.

He noted that the challenge of delayed passport production was due to the Coronavirus pandemic and accompanying global lockdowns, including difficulty in accessing foreign exchange.

“On Friday alone, we received a total of 45,000 brochures to clear arrears and in December alone, we received more than 100,000 brochures that we continue to distribute at passport centres across the country.

“This is not just for Nigerians in Nigeria, but also for those in the Diaspora, and with the introduction of the enhanced ePassport, we are ready to continue our efforts to address the shortage.

” This enhanced ePassport is a great improvement on the biometric passport technology that we adopted as a country in 2007.

“It is a strategic step to curb counterfeiting, identity theft and other forms of fraud associated with obtaining travel documents under the old machine-readable passport regime", he said.

According to Idris, technology helps address some of the challenges, including corruption, and NIS has continued to hold back personal contacts with its officials.

Idris also said that more brochures would soon be received to clear the arrears.

He called on Nigerians to understand the service and stop participating in the last-minute application rush, saying that renewal applicants could apply for it six months after their passports expire.

According to him, the service is working hard to ensure full compliance with the three-week duration for renewal and the six-week waiting period for new applications.

He also said that there was nowhere in the world where passports are presented in 24 hours, except in emergency situations.

Idris highlighted poor funding as the challenge of the NIS, adding that unmotivated workers would find it difficult not to engage in corrupt practices.

He assured that the service “is committed to improving the well-being of its officers to improve productivity and efficiency", and pleaded with Nigerians, particularly the media, to support and cooperate with the service.

He announced that “there are channels dedicated to complaints about the conduct of the organization’s officers and services".