The House of Representatives has ordered the Nigerian Immigration Service to resume issuing passports to Nigerians who are eligible within 72 hours.
The House disclosed this at its Plenary session on Thursday following a motion by Rep. Ugonna Ozurigbo on Wednesday, as the House complained that Nigerians who have paid for passports are yet to be issued a booklet.
What Rep. Ugonna Ozurigbo said
“I am aware of the persistent scarcity of the passport booklets at most Nigeria Immigration Service offices and some of the nation’s foreign embassies.
I am concerned that most Nigerians who have applied for passports and fulfilled all the requirements are constrained to wait endlessly for the booklet, which ordinarily takes less than 48 hours to be issued.
This situation is causing untold hardship on Nigerians with an urgent need to travel out of the country,” he said.
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Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, ordered the Committees on Interior and Foreign Affairs to ensure compliance as the House of Reps ordered the Federal Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Immigration Service to review its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc and IRIS Smart Technologies Ltd in a bid to ensure Nigerians get their passports in 24 hours after applying.
What you should know
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed last week that all backlogs of undelivered passport requests would be fixed before May 31st, and announced the launch of a new passport application system, which would be aided by fast track services nationwide.
