Aregbesola commissions Enugu passports office
…says excellent service delivery uncompromisable
Speech delivered by the minister during the unveiling.
Protocols.
It give me great pleasure to be in Enugu for another pathbreaking event by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for the unveiling of the enhanced electronic Passport facility and the commissioning of a Passport Production Centre. I was here last year to commission this Command Complex and I must thank my brother, the Governor and the good people of Enugu State, for receiving us very warmly.
Today’s event is unique in many ways. The most important is making the enhanced ePassport available to the good people of the South East. The enhanced ePassport comes in various categories, including the 64-page-10-year validity Passport which is quite convenient for frequent travellers. It is a product of the latest technology in passport administration and issuance. Only very few countries in the world can boast of it as of today. The document is of higher grade with additional 25 security features than the one currently in use. It is polycarbonate in design and therefore water-resistant. It cannot be compromised by counterfeiters and identity thieves.
The NIS has continued to ensure that the Nigerian Passport satisfies all the standards set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The Interior Ministry appreciates the volume of economic activities in the South East and the rising number of citizens from the region who have strong international dimension to their businesses and socio-economic pursuits. They need travel document. It is our responsibility to provide it for them within the shortest possible time, at a reasonable price and without any hassle.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), our agency whose mandate includes passport administration, particularly addresses the rising demand of passport services nationally and has been priming its facilities to meet this demand. The train has now come to the South East and it shall go round the country.
We have had some challenges in the recent past on delays experienced by some applicants in procuring their passports. This is regrettable. But it will interest you to know that between 2019 and now, the NIS has issued about 3 million passports to Nigerians. Last year alone, 1.3 million passports were issued. Also, last time I checked, over 250,000 passports remain uncollected by applicants. There owners will probably be among those complaining they are yet to receive their passports. Nevertheless, many applicants are not going to have their passports because of the errors in their applications, which delayed processing. They may not know because they applied through touts and other illegal channels.
A major challenge of passport administration is the illegal patronage of touts and NIS officials, instead of the stipulated online platform. Our application system is designed to eliminate personal contact, other than for biometric purpose. This is to curb corruption, extortion and inflation. But as long as applicants try to cut corners, they defeat our purpose and create avoidable problems.
The first problem that arise is unfulfilled expectations. Touts and officials are not in any position to guarantee anything. Our system makes room for six weeks for fresh application and three weeks for renewal. This is to enable the NIS to investigate and verify claims by the applicants. It is advisable for travellers in need of passport to begin the application process early, factoring our timeline. The maximum six weeks is reasonable and among the shortest application time in the world. Promising an applicant an express service therefore is a scam. It is bound to end in disappointment and for most part it does. I will appeal therefore to applicants to follow the path we provide through the online portal. That is the only reliable and assuring path to procuring a Nigerian passport.
The NIS shall continue to frontally address the mounting public concerns over the quality and transparency of its Passport issuance process with a view to enabling a transparent and highly professionalized service delivery. The Ministry shall continue to provide the needed policy direction to the NIS and indeed all the other agencies under its watch to ensure that Nigerians are properly served.
As we commission this facility today, we are also assuring that delays and some noticed clumsiness in the production chain are eliminated. To this effect, a centralized Passport Production Centre is part of what we are commissioning to accommodate all applications enrolled in neighbouring Passport Issuing Centres in the South East (such as Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo), which are electronically transmitted to the Centre here for production. This arrangement is not only to save time and cost but also to speed up the process and procedure.
We shall continue to innovate on the best available options to ensuring that we sustain the integrity of our passport. We shall continue to sustain the maximum timeline of six weeks for all fresh applications and three weeks for renewal. We do this not to hurt anyone but out of our desire to sustain the integrity of our Passport in the comity of nations.
I will like to thank and commend the officers and men of the INS for their sacrifice and the yeoman’s job they have been doing as part of the national security architecture. It is part of your mandate to man our borders and keep away those who are likely to harm us, in addition to passport administration, among other responsibilities. I enjoin you therefore to excel on the beat. We have introduced some reforms with the aim of bringing greater efficiency and transparency to the system. These reforms are at the heart of President Muhammadu Buhari Administration’s governance project. They are intended to position the NIS to serve Nigerians better. It is in serving with honour and integrity that you can have job fulfilment, leave a good legacy and be part of national development. It is important therefore that you cooperate fully with these reforms.
I must not fail to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his kind disposition towards our Ministry which has made the growth and innovations we introduced possible, including the facilities we are commissioning today.
I will not end this address without thanking my brother, the Governor of Enugu State, and indeed the good people of the State, for the excellent support and cooperation that have consistently accorded all the agencies under our Ministry in this State. I also thank our revered traditional institutions in the State for their prayers and support for the enduring peace and development in our communities. I thank everyone who left some other important engagements just to join us on this occasion. I appreciate you all and most especially members of the Press.
I thank you all for your attention.