Interior Ministry Clarifies Claim On Passport Offices Opening In Banks, Hotels

By Sodiq Yusuf

The Ministry of Interior has urged Nigerians to do away with publications, emanating from comments, purported to have been made on behalf of the Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, that passport front offices will be opened in hotels and banks, which is at variance with the policy drive of the ministry.

It holds that the comments are untrue, restating the resolve and commitment of the Nigeria Immigration Service, under the leadership of CG Isah Jere, to reform then passport processes, by boosting the operations of the passport offices across the nation and in the diaspora, to deliver improved passport experience for Nigerians.

In a series of tweets on Monday, the Ministry of Interior also restated its desire to among others, ensure that bottlenecks against easy access to passport services are completely eroded, through ongoing digital reforms, all in a bid to eliminating corruption and incentivizing productivity.

“The attention of the Office of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has been drawn to news publications with the above subject matter, where an unnamed individual was said to have represented the Minister and made comments that are not in consonance with the policy drive of the Ministry, which supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service. To be clear, the Minister DID NOT directly or indirectly state that passport front offices will be opened in Hotels or Banks.

“The Ministry is working with the Nigerian Immigration Service under the able leadership of CG Isah Jere, to reform the passport process by boosting the operations of the existing passport offices across the Nation and in the Diaspora to deliver improved passport experience for Nigerians with the ultimate goal of eliminating corruption and incentivizing productivity.

“This passport reform has recorded several bold and successful initiatives not least of which include: 1. The elimination of cash payment for any passport service at ALL Passport Centers, 2. The introduction of a digital Appointment Management System (AMS) allowing Nigerians book biometric capture appointments in advance, 3. The introduction of standardised timelines for passport collection (3 weeks for Re-issue, 6 weeks for fresh application) after biometric capture amongst many others.

“Indeed, this reform is yielding results. So far this year, 1.5 million passports have been produced for Nigerians, dwarfing all previous yearly productions. We urge Nigerians to support the #passportreform initiative, by applying well in time, avoid using middle men, apply yourself online and discourage corruption.”

Urging Nigerians to disregard the publication, the Ministry implored people to support the passport reform initiative, that has produced over 1.5 million passports this year, by applying personally and discouraging corruption in approaching middlemen among other shortcuts from the right channels.