The Federal Government will sanitise international passports processing and tackle racketeers both within and outside the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola has said.
Aregbesola made this known on Tuesday at the Roll Out of the Enhanced Electronic Passport and the commissioning of the Passport Production Centre in Port Harcourt.
He said that the major challenge confronting the service in the issuance of passports has not lacked innovation but people and their negative conduct.
‘’We have introduced far-reaching reforms which some unscrupulous elements continue to frustrate and subvert with corrupt acts, these unscrupulous entities are both within our service and outside the service.
‘’The menace of touting, inflation of price, delay in processing application, and withholding of passport, are some of the challenges and we appeal to Nigerians to help eliminate these malpractices, there must be zero tolerance for these practices if we want to build a great nation, he added.
He called on both the Rivers Government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to swing into action and identify those involved in the act.
The minister again said there was no passport booklet scarcity.
”There are 13,000 booklets in Lagos, while the Port Harcourt office has 10,000. I urge those intending to obtain their passports to apply early to avoid delays.
”There is wait and get passport service worldwide. For fresh applicants, they are to wait six weeks and three weeks for renewals,” he said.
