The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said no Nigerian will have to wait for more than two weeks to get an international passport henceforth.
He disclosed this in a press briefing in Abuja while updating Nigerians on the state of passport backlog in the country on Wednesday.
“No one will ever wait for two weeks to get passports again. If you apply and have been captured, you will get your passport within two weeks,” he assured, adding that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had cleared all the 204,332 passport application backlogs.
The minister had on September 7, given a two-week deadline to the NIS to clear all passport application backlogs.
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“Immigration service did three shifts to make sure that we clear the backlogs and to ensure that never again in the history of Nigeria, are we going to have a backlog.
“This is not a temporary relief but a permanent solution,” he assured.
The Minister said NIS and its partners would upgrade their systems in order to improve their services, adding that applicants would not be required to go to passport offices to be captured from December 2023.
“People will be able to upload their passport and supporting documents online. Only biometrics will be taken at the passport office.
“We are introducing passport front offices where people can go and process their passport close to where they reside. Solution providers have been given three months to activate this or their contract will be revoked,” the minister said.
He said these measures would help to speed up the passport application process.
While urging Nigerians not to bribe any official for passports, Tunji-Ojo said they should reach the Ministry of Interior via 08023753414 and [email protected] when asked for a bribe at any passport office within the country.
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