“PASSPORT REVOLUTION: FG PLEDGES ONE-WEEK DELIVERY, TARGETS RACKETEERING”
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–Federal Government has launched a major overhaul of the passport issuance process, promising to deliver passports within one week of enrolment. Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the reform during the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat in Abuja, vowing to end racketeering and restore integrity to Nigeria’s travel documents.
Key Highlights:
– One-Week Delivery: Passports will now be delivered within one week of enrolment, eliminating long delays and extortion.
– Centralized Approval : Passport Control Officers (PCOs) will no longer have the power to approve or delay applications, reducing human contact and opportunities for corruption.
– Quality Passports: The new system prioritizes delivering quality passports that reflect Nigeria’s integrity, with enhanced vetting and approval processes to prevent illegal issuance .
Reforms:
– Clearing Backlogs: The ministry cleared a six-month backlog in just two and a half weeks, demonstrating its commitment to efficiency.
– Stricter Security: A new centralized personalization centre, the largest in Africa, ensures faster processing and stricter security.
– End of Extortion: The reforms aim to eliminate extortion, with applicants no longer forced to pay hundreds of thousands of naira for fast-track processing .
Minister’s Assurance:
Dr. Tunji-Ojo emphasized that the reforms will safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s passport, ensuring that only Nigerians carry the document. He cited cases where foreigners bought Nigerian passports illegally, stressing that new vetting processes will restore integrity to the system .
“That system we inherited was inefficient. Nigerians will apply for passports and wait endlessly, or be asked to pay hundreds of thousands of naira.
“My own daughter had that bad experience. Even when I was chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, my daughter wanted passport, it was a problem. I had to pay hundreds of thousands to be able to get a passport for my daughter, a 12-year-old girl. That era is over,” Tunji-Ojo said.
The minister explained that the centralised personalisation centre, the largest in Africa, will ensure faster processing and stricter security.
“With this facility, we can print five times more passports than we currently need. Once you enrol, it doesn’t take us more than 24 hours to vet. Printing capacity is no longer our problem,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo also announced that Passport Control Officers will no longer have the power to approve or delay passport applications, following revelations that some of them were at the centre of corruption and inefficiency in the system.
He said the reform was aimed at curbing racketeering, eliminating delays, and restoring integrity to Nigeria’s travel documents.
“Some PCOs had so much power that they could decide not to approve or not to print a passport until they were settled. That abuse of power ends now,” Tunji-Ojo said.
According to him, centralising the approval process will ensure that passport applicants are no longer at the mercy of individual officers.
“We realised that the best way to cut corruption is to remove human contact to the barest minimum.
“Passport approval will no longer rest with PCOs. My responsibility is not for them to like me — it is to deliver efficiency. Let Nigerians be happy,” he declared.
He added that the reforms will also safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s passport.
“My responsibility is not just to make passports available, but to ensure that anybody carrying it is a Nigerian. If you are not a Nigerian, you cannot carry it. It’s about our national integrity,” he added.
He cited past cases where foreigners bought Nigerian passports illegally, stressing that new vetting and approval processes would restore integrity to the system.
“In one incident, a Ugandan woman carrying a Nigerian passport was arrested at Lagos Airport after paying $1,000 to procure it.
“That cannot continue. Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity,” he added.
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