By Uzor Odigbo
The Passport Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Ikoyi Lagos, has expressed worries over 16,863 passports abandoned by applicants after wasting their money and time to procure the passports.
The Deputy Comptroller in charge of the command, Mr A. I Liman made this known in Lagos on Wednesday.
Liman who assumed duty three weeks ago at the Ikoyi command revealed that over 7000 bulk messages have been sent to applicants to come forward for collection of the passports followed by email messages.
“A Passport that supposed to be produced in less than three days may likely take three weeks or more as a result of a minor error that can be corrected by NIMC, giving the service a tough time in the cause of service delivery.
He reiterated that Lagos has the highest number of booklets, adding that, gone are the days when the service was having problem with booklets, today Lagos State has the highest number of booklets.
Liman said the command under his watch will discharge its duty as enshrined in the oath of office. In doing this,” I will not ascribe to myself Monopoly of knowledge as good suggestions will be welcome from within and outside the service. I am not averse to constructive criticism.
He promised to operate an open-door policy with stakeholders and most especially the media in furtherance to information sharing and dissemination of the service contributions to the nation.
He explained further, that the media has what it takes to educate the public on the issuance of passports.
Speaking further, he said “Finally, I call on all officers and men of the command to follow the path of professionalism and rededicate ourselves to the services that we all sworn to discharge.
“Effective service delivery is what Nigerians expect from us, and that we shall give. Insha Allah.
“Gone are yesterday when the service was having the problem of the booklet, today Lagos has the highest number of booklets”, Liman maintained