By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
At least 15,000 passports have been issued at the Ikoyi Passport Office since June and 3,000 are ready for collection as Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) personnel in that location now work seven days a week to clear backlogs and meet demand.
Deputy Controller of Immigration and Ikoyi Passport Control Officer, Ibrahim Liman, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the office has put calls through to those whose passports are ready for collection.
Liman said the need for investigation to determine the eligibility of applicants may delay the release of the passports.
“The Ikoyi Passport Office [in Lagos] is fully committed to efficient service delivery and it will not relent in justifying its operational mandate.
“As the PCO of Ikoyi, I will always work with integrity. I don’t have anything to hide, the office operates an open door policy,’’ he explained.
He warned racketeers to desist from their illegal activities because the “NIS would not hesitate to discipline anyone found to be involved in defrauding or shortchanging any applicant.’’
The NIS had in May suspended the processing of new passports to clear the backlog of applications.
15,000 passports issued in 3 months
Liman disclosed that the office has issued at least 15,000 passports since he assumed office in June.
He said racketeering and the need to clear backlogs made the office to extend working days to include Saturdays and Sundays to meet the demands of thousands of applicants.
He urged Nigerians to see the passport as not just a travelling document but a security document that would help them in many ways.
He pledged that his office is fully committed to efficient service delivery so the NIS would continue to be one of the best passport issuers globally.
“The service has recently introduced additional sophisticated measures toward checking attitudes inimical to the conduct of its official duties, especially, issues to do with corruption.”
Liman added that the “NIS has reiterated that all qualified prospective seekers of the travel document should apply online” and appealed to applicants to visit the Servicom department at all passport offices to make enquiries.
He lamented that impatient applicants are always in a hurry to get their passports in a few hours which messes up the system.
“Can this be done in advanced countries? I specially appeal to prospective applicants to visit immigration.gov.ng, which serves as the service website to apply and make payments for their passports.”
