Immigration Service To Probe Errant Officers Over Passport Delays
On Saturday, The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs. Caroline Adepoju, directed an inquiry into the multiple complaints leveled against some of its officers over “noncompliance with ministerial directives on timeline passport administration.”
Adepoju, who expressed deep concerns over complaints of misconduct leveled against the service’s personnel in some passport offices nationwide, announced appropriate phone numbers for Nigerians to report any form of misconduct by any personnel for appropriate sanctions.
The service’s Public Relations Officer, Dotun Aridegbe, revealed this in a statement he signed on Saturday titled, ‘Alleged unprofessional conducts at passport offices.’
Aridegbe noted that “the Comptroller General has ordered an investigation into the matter, especially in regards to the noncompliance with Ministerial directives on the timeline of passport administration.”
According to the CGI, the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on October 4, announced a new timeline of two weeks for processing and issuance of passports following the complete clearance of passport application backlogs nationwide.
Therefore, she presented additional phone numbers for the public to report misdemeanors by NIS personnel at any of its offices, saying, “We are not only ready to answer your calls but resolve issues.”
Adepoju made it known that the Service Spokesperson can be reached on 08028320751, and the Special Adviser on SERVICOM can be contacted on 08067761196.
The public can also reach the NIS Contact Center on 09121900655, 09121556359, and 09121477092 to its X and Facebook handles, @nigimmigration, Adepoju added.
She assured citizens that “The Service has, on a daily basis, monitored the compliance level at all passport offices nationwide and at our missions abroad.
“We receive daily reports on production and issuance of Passports from all Passport Control Officers.
“As of today, Friday, October 13, 2023, most of our passport offices are producing passports of applicants enrolled on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.”
Nonetheless, the immigration chief appealed to citizens to be patient, given that the re-issuance of lost Passport and change of data takes longer to process due to security clearance.
“The Service wishes to use this opportunity to enlighten the general public that applications for re-issuance of lost Passport and change of data take a longer time.
“Some applicants in this category may put the Service in a bad light when they complain of delay and noncompliance with the new
timeline.
“These applications are required to go through security clearance
and correspondence with Service Headquarters before approval for
production,” Adepoju explained.
The Service urged prospective Passport applicants to visit its official website at immigration.gov.ng to apply for Passports and pay for their preferred Passport categories and avoid patronizing individuals or entities that request cash payments for Passport services.
