By Emmanuel Iriogbe, Abuja
There is looming Crisis looming at the Ikoyi passport office of the Nigeria Immigration Service over the blatant disregard to directives of the Honourable Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola by the authorities over there.
The Honourable Minister and the Comtptroller General of Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede
introduced a new passport regime on June 1, 2021. This is in tandem with global best practices where fresh applications are expected to be treated within six weeks while reissuassuance cases are meant to be done within three weeks.
To the disappointment of applicants who received the new policy in good faith and enthusiasm, the authority at Ikoyi passport office in sheer display of disobedience to the law has chosen to do otherwise.
An applicant who craved anonimity complained bitterly that he applied for passport in the first week of June, yet his passport has not been produced with no reason given for the delay.
All efforts to access the authorities concerned has so far proved abortive.
The applicant further disclosed that he reliably gathered that only selected few are given preference under inexplicable circumstances.
The fear being expressed in certain quarters is that the backlog of passport applications that the Honourable Minister and the Comptroller General of Immigration Services, CGIS, in their wisdom successfully cleared is gradually building up again and if care is not taken will reverse the situation and bring us back to how it was in the past.
According to the applicant; “It is in view of the above that concerned applicants are using this medium to appeal to the Honourable Minister and the CGIS to look into the issue with the aim of proffering the desired solution before it gets
out of hand. .
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