Article Summary
- Nigerian Senate has mandated its Committee on Interior to investigate the delay in the issuance and renewal of international passports by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
- The investigation is to be completed and reported in two weeks.
- The motion was sponsored by Sen. Uche Ekwunife (PDP-Anambra), who raised concerns about the delays and hardship faced by Nigerians in obtaining passports, including a delay of three to six months for processing, and difficulty in booking biometric appointments.
The Nigerian Senate is set to launch an investigation into the operations of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) over the incessant complaints by Nigerians of delay in the issuance and renewal of international passports.
The upper legislative chamber on Tuesday mandated its committee on Interior to urgently commence the investigation and turn in its report of the investigation in two weeks.
The Senate resolution was a sequel to the adoption of a motion on the matter at Plenary. The motion was sponsored by Sen. Uche Ekwunife (PDP-Anambra).
Ekwunife in her lead debate said the delay in missions and renewal of Nigeria’s international passports by the Nigerian Immigration Service nationwide was resulting in untold hardships for Nigerians, who need to travel out of the country or return to the country.
NIS fails to meet 6 weeks timeline
She said many Nigerians were still facing challenges with passport processing, despite the six weeks timeline of processing passports given by the Federal Government barely a year ago.
According to her, presently, new applicants and those who want their passports renewed spend between three to six months processing their international passport applications at the offices of the Nigerian Immigration Services and Nigerian embassies outside the country.
Ekwunife said getting an appointment for biometric capturing at the passport offices now takes between five to eight weeks, while it takes many applicants four months to wait for their passports to be ready for collection after the biometric exercise.
She said that it has also become extremely difficult for passports to be processed across the country, in the immigration offices, especially in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. This, she noted was forcing the applicants to travel to various locations to get their passports renewed.
- “The international students are also finding it very difficult to renew their passports to enable them to travel back to reunite with their families,” she said.
Other Senators react
Sen. Gershom Bassey (PDP-Cross-River), who seconded the motion said the issuance of a passport was a right of every Nigerian. He expressed concern that the idea of delay in the issuance of passports which was almost becoming a controversy was not in the best interest of Nigerians.
Similarly, Sen. Biodun Olujumi (PDP-Ekiti) said the motion was timely, saying that it was important to resolve the issue as that was not the situation in the past when passports were issued within two to three days.
She said it was embarrassing to Nigerians that applicants would need to wait six to eight months for a passport to be issued.
Sen. Muhammad Bulkachuwa (APC-Bauch) however, said the motion had come too late as the matter should have been presented earlier before the senate.
Bulkachuwa said he had experienced a similar delay when he applied for a renewal of his passport. According to him, it took five weeks for him to be issued his passport after his biometric exercise.
The Senate also on the motion mandated its committee to investigate the contract awarded for the printing of Nigerian passport.
