Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has revealed that the Ministry of Interior, a key government body in Nigeria responsible for overseeing internal security, immigration, civil defense, and related services generated over N6 billion in revenue for 2024.
The revenue was generated through various services rendered to Nigerians, including expatriate quotas, marriage services, citizenship applications, and place of worship registrations.
Dr. Tunji-Ojo provided a detailed breakdown of the revenue generated, highlighting the various services that contributed to the N6 billion total.
“Out of the N6 billion, N3,220,035 was generated from the expatriate quota, N2,409,282 from marriage services, N392,790 from citizenship while N12,350 was raked in from a place of worship,” he said.
Promotions and recruitment
The minister also addressed the promotion and recruitment efforts within the Ministry of Interior’s agencies.
- In 2023, a total of 32,640 officers and men were promoted across the ministry’s four service agencies, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Fire Service (FFS), and the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).
“2023 was higher because of the backlog of promotion which we have cleared, as there is currently no backlog in any of the services,” Tunji-Ojo explained.
- Between 2023 and 2024, 10,783 officers and men were recruited into the NIS, NSCDC, and FFS.
“In 2023, NIS recruited 5,283 personnel, NSCDC recruited 3,000 while the FFS in 2024 announced the recruitment of 2,500 firefighters,” Tunji-Ojo stated.
The promotion exercise in 2024 reached 20,851 personnel, with notable promotions across various services
- NCoS promoted 5,331 personnel
- NIS promoted 5,088 personnel
- FFS promoted 486 personnel
- NSCDC promoted 9,946 officers and men.
The minister emphasized the ministry’s commitment to gender equality, noting that 35% of the recruits in the ministry’s recent recruitment exercises were women.
“FFS’ recent recruitment had over 35 per cent female inclusion,” he said
Addressing indiscipline
Dr. Tunji-Ojo also touched on the issue of discipline within the ministry. He warned that any form of indiscipline would not be tolerated, pointing to the number of ongoing disciplinary cases.
“The disciplinary cases handled by NSCDC in 2024 were 37, FFS; 12, NIS; 21 and NCoS; 48,” he stated.
- The minister revealed that the ministry had completed the first phase of its manpower audit in 2024, which uncovered the issue of personnel migration, commonly referred to as “japa” in Nigeria.
“The report from the japa leakage was shocking after the audits; however, such leakages have been blocked.”
- To ensure improved service delivery, Dr. Tunji-Ojo mentioned that heads of all agencies under the Ministry of Interior have been mandated to sign performance contracts.
“Performance contracts are signed with me because everybody in the ministry has targets, as it is no longer business as usual,” he stated.
