The Nigeria Immigration High Command has launched an investigation into alleged unprofessional conduct and racketeering in passport offices across the country.
Spokesman of the Immigration Service, Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, DCI Dotun Aridegbe who made the disclosure, noted the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Caroline Wura-
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Ola Adepoju has received, with deep concern, some complaints of misconduct leveled against our personnel in some passport offices across the nation.
According to him, “The Comptroller General has ordered an investigation into the matter, especially in regards to the non-compliance with Ministerial directives on the timeline of passport administration.
“Following the complete clearance of passport application backlogs nationwide in line with the directive of the Honourable Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, a new timeline of two weeks for processing and issuance of passports was announced by the Minister on October 4, 2023.
The Minister and the Ag. CGI provided different phone numbers to the general public to report misdemeanors by NIS personnel at any of our offices.
“From NIS, we gave two numbers: 08028320751 (SPRO) and 08067761196 (SA-SERVICOM), and we are not only ready to answer your calls but to resolve issues.
The service has, on a daily basis, monitored the compliance level at all passport offices nationwide and at our missions abroad. We receive daily reports on the production and issuance of passports from all passport control officers.
“As of today, October 13, 2023, most of our passport offices are producing passports for applicants enrolled on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
“The Service wishes to use this opportunity to enlighten the general public that applications for reissuance of lost Passport and change of data takes a longer time. Some applicants in this category may put the service in bad light when they complain of delay and noncompliance with the new timeline.
These applications are required to go through security clearance and correspondence with Service Headquarters before approval for production.”
Meanwhile, the Acting Comptroller General appealed to members of the public to feel free to contact the Service through its various public communication channels, including Twitter, Facebook handles (@nigimmigration), and our Contact Center at 09121900655, 09121556359, and 09121477092, to report any form of misconduct by any member of the workforce for appropriate sanctions.
He added: “The Service enjoins prospective Passport applicants to please visit the Nigeria Immigration Service’s official website at immigration.gov.ng to apply for Passports and make payments for their preferred Passport categories and avoid patronizing individuals or entities that request cash payments for Passport services”