Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has described the delays in issuing international passports to applicants as unacceptable. He said this during his visit to the Nigerian Immigration Service on Tuesday.
Tunji-Ojo paid a courtesy visit to Nigerian Immigration Service passport office in Gwagwalada, Abuja on Tuesday. During his visit he addressed some pressing issues like delays in passport processing and unauthorised payments.
The Minister warned applicants against making payments outside official fees, because passport charges had already been fully paid by the government.
“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”.
“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”.
“How long does it take to enroll? Three minutes. So three times seven, that is twenty-one minutes”.
“We are supposed to open by eight,” an official said, adding that electricity was restored after applicants had arrived. It doesn’t make sense to me. People are there waiting.
“Some of these people still need to go to work. Some of these people have other things to do. “So why must you wait until you enroll everybody before you capture?”.
“You are wasting people’s precious time. Time is money. Time is expensive. It is unacceptable. “It will not cost you anything if you use this place for them.
“Nigeria has no VIP. When you wear this uniform, you wear a uniform of sacrifice. You are here to work for the people.”