Nigerians whose passports have expired abroad and need to come back to Nigeria as well as those who are currently in Nigeria but need to travel out for one business or another are currently stranded because there is scarcity of passports.
Despite several assurances on the availability of the Nigerian international passport booklets by Muhammad Babandede, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), applicants are still queuing and waiting relentlessly for the booklets.
In Lagos, the situation is particularly peculiar with the passport office in Festac town, as applicants in Ikoyi passport office told BusinessDay that they have been getting their passports as at when due.
“My son applied for passport for over one months now and we are yet to get his passport. He was supposed to travel to Dubai last week for holidays but we have had to postpone the trip because passport office in Festac has still not issued him his passport,” an applicant’s father told BusinessDay.
Also the Nigeria High Commission, London, United Kingdom has informed the general public that the commission is currently experiencing difficulty in the supply of Nigerian Passport Booklets from Nigeria.
According to the High Commission, “This affects both 32 and 64 pages Passport Booklets. This situation is not peculiar to the Nigeria High Commission alone. As a result of this problem, the minimum waiting time for collection of all passport (both 32 and 64 pages) after biometric capture is now reduced to two (2) months.”
However, they advise applicants whose Nigeria Passports are not ready on the automatic computer generated collection date but in urgent need to travel to Nigeria to choose one of the following options provided they are in possession of a foreign passport that guarantees travelling back to the United Kingdom.
The options include, applying for an Emergency Travel Certificate (Gratis) or apply for a Nigerian visa.
The sad development negates the recent Executive Order issued by Yemi Osibajo, vice president of Nigeria, which the leadership of NIS pledged to comply with alongside easing visa application process for foreigners.
However, a source from NIS who pleaded anonymity confirmed the availability of passport booklets but noted that any shortcoming may be from the backlog of many who earlier applied for the booklet at the peak of the high exchange rate, which was not favourable for the suppliers abroad.
The situation seems to be a different report from Ikoyi passport office as Segun Adegoke, the Passport Control Officer, Ikoyi office told BusinessDay that for his office, applicants are not experiencing any hitch in getting their passports.
“You need to come and see my office and how the process is moving fast. From next week, issuance of passports is going to be 24 hours. I have only 600 files outstanding, which will be cleared by tomorrow.
But Sunday James, the Public Relations Officer, Immigration, Abuja told BusinessDay that passport offices have passport booklets, against what the report seems to be.
“Why will somebody be saying we do not have passports? There is no two ways about it, we cannot lie. If there are no passport booklets, we will send press releases out. The fact remains that we have the booklets.”
“So if people are saying there are no booklets, let them pick the person up from wherever he is. Any passport officer saying there are no booklets is telling a big lie. Take my word for it. In fact the Controller General should not hear this.”
“Even those for foreign promotion interview left with booklets last week. If those who are travelling out of the country will leave with booklets, why will those in the country tell us they don’t have booklets? ” James said.
Obinna Emelike and Ifeoma Okeke
