Aregbesola said the aim was to ease the increasing pressure
on the three existing Passport Control Offices in Lagos State.
The minister added that the Alimosho office was mainly for
passport application, collection of biometric data and eventual issuance, and
not for passport production.
“We are also committed to expanding our passport issuance
operations to bridge the gaps we face usually in urban centres like Lagos,”
Aregbesola added. He said that NIS was working hard and raising its capacity to
cope with the high demand for passports in the country.
“Applications have been increasing every year at an
unprecedented rate due to the tendency of many Nigerians wanting to travel
outside the country and those who want to use it as means of identification.
“Therefore, there is a panic buying effect from those who wanted
to obtain the passport because they heard some people who probably went through
touts had difficulty obtaining theirs.
“But now, we have increased our capacity. In 2022, we
produced 1.9 million passports, against the one million produced in 2021. This
is about 80 per cent increase and it is unprecedented,” he said.
Aregbesola said that the government would work with private
partners to provide spaces for more front offices in Lagos, to reduce passports
application waiting period to one week.
“Due to funding challenges, the Federal Government may not be able to provide these
desk offices; we will therefore need private partners that will provide the
lounges.
“Their only involvement will be to provide the space. The
offices will still be manned and operated by NIS personnel.
“We certainly need more of this in Lagos, because half of
all passport applications are made in Lagos.
“We will need not less than 15 of these front offices in
Lagos alone to be able to cut the application waiting period to one week.”
Aregbesola appealed to passport applicants to use the NIS
portal and not touts and unscrupulous officials.
Earlier, the minister also inaugurated the NIS Command
Headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“Since my appointment as minister, we have inaugurated 17
new command structures across the country for NIS, with the Lagos command being
the 18th.
“The resolve of President Muhammad Buhari’s administration
to ensure that our borders are further secured led to the creation of new and
upgrading of Border Control Formations to full-fledged commands.”
In his remarks, the Comptroller-General of NIS, Isah Idris,
said that the service would continue to render efficient service to Nigerians.
“The NIS will continue to render efficient and effective
service to the public.
“I urge Nigerians to avail themselves of the numerous
complaint mechanisms made available to our esteemed customers who for whatever
reason are displeased with the services rendered.
“There are lots of publications, signage and sensitisation
materials on the procedure of acquiring the Nigeria e-passport.
“Avail yourselves of this information targeted at reducing
interference of anyone in the process of applying for the said facility. This
is aimed at eliminating touting, extortion and other vices,” Jere said.
The C-G warned that the passport office remained a
no-go-area for touts and racketeers, adding that the law would catch up with
those who infringe passport issuance regulations. # FG inaugurates additional
passport office in Lagos
0 comments:
Post a Comment