By Adeke Chukwuka
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has directed the contractors collaborating with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to clear the backlog of passport applications within two weeks.
The Minister gave the order during a meeting with the Acting Comptroller General, Adepoju Carol, the Managing Director of Iris Smart Technologies, a third-party company in charge of the production of passport booklets, and other top government officials yesterday in Abuja.
On Thursday, Tunji-Ojo, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), mentioned that this directive was among several “swift measures” intended to remove obstacles faced by applicants.
Delays in the processing and enrollment of passports in Nigeria have been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.
Adepoju Carol, assured the Minister that all necessary resources and measures would be deployed to expedite the processing of these pending passport applications.
She said that although the number of enrollments as of Thursday morning had spilled into 200,000 across the country, the agency has been able to secure enough booklets to clear the backlog.
He said in a statement that “As part of swift measures to remove all bottlenecks in the acquisition of passports and immigration documents, I engaged service providers to the immigration service to ensure the backlogs of applications are cleared within the next two weeks.”
Last week, the Interior Minister urged agency heads to expedite Nigerian passport application and collection processes, emphasizing the need to end long queues.
He emphasized President Bola Tinubu’s expectation of action rather than excuses, highlighting the critical need for transformation in the country.
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