The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has extended the date for application of passport.
The Comptroller General of the NIS, Muhammad Babandede, announced that applications for passports will now commence on June 8, 2021, as against the earlier scheduled date of June 1.
This was disclosed by the new spokesman of the Service, Amos Okpu, in Abuja on Tuesday.
The NIS explained that issuing centers are being congested by crowds who want to collect their passport, noting that the crowd was making compliance to COVID-19 protocols difficult.
Last month, the federal government announced the suspension of issuance of passports due to the debt owed by the federal government.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, however directed that the restart date for fresh applications be extended, explaining that the move was to allow for the clearance of backlog for all local and foreign passport applications.
A statement by the NIS read, “A huge number of applicants are already turning up to collect their passports across issuing centers and this is causing some forms of congestion.
“This situation will not allow the Service to accommodate new applications especially considering our desire to ensure that people who come to our offices comply with all the COVID-19 protocols.
“Consequent upon the above, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has extended the commencement of the new passport regime earlier scheduled for June 1, 2021 by one week till June 8, 2021.
“The period shall be used to attend to applicants for collection, clear all the remaining backlogs as well as improve systems automation for the takeoff of the new passport regime effective 8th June 2021.”
The NIS Comptroller General assured Nigerians that the service is committed to improve the services delivered to all applicants.
He said that 230,500 passport applications have been cleared and the passport produced, while 43,350 passports are yet to be collected.
Babandede said, “Passport Control Officers have been directed to continue to send out short message notifications for collection to all applicants who indicated functional contact details/numbers in their applications while efforts have been intensified to clear up the remaining applications in some Centers.”
