Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has criticised delays in passport processing and warned against illegal charges during an unannounced inspection of the Nigerian Immigration Service passport office in Gwagwalada, Abuja.
He insisted that Nigerians must not pay a kobo beyond officially approved fees and that inefficiency in service delivery will no longer be tolerated.
During the visit, the minister toured the VIP and Children section of the passport office and engaged immigration officers and passport applicants, questioning why only a few people had been attended to several hours after the office was expected to commence operations.
Tunji-Ojo expressed concern that despite the section being designated for expedited services, applicants were still waiting long after opening hours, with many others seated downstairs without being attended to.
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“So, it means that by 9.30am, I expect to see at least one or two applicants here because I can see some people waiting downstairs, and our responsibility is to be efficient,” the minister said.
The minister also used the opportunity to caution passport applicants against paying any money outside officially approved fees.
“I don’t want to hear that you are collecting money for diesel or paper. Nigerians have paid for their passports completely. Serve them diligently,” he warned immigration officials.
Tunji-Ojo questioned the pace of enrolment and biometric capturing, calculating that each applicant should be processed within a few minutes if systems were properly managed.
Immigration officers at the office admitted that although operations were scheduled to begin by 8am, activities only commenced around 9am after the generator was switched on, citing power supply challenges.
