The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede on Monday, June 13, ordered all Passport Control Officers (PCOs) nationwide and Passport Issuing Desks in Nigeria’s Foreign Missions to clear all backlog of passport applications within 24 hours.
A statement was released to this effect by Ekpedeme King, Service Public Relations Officer, who noted that “failure to comply with the directive would be interpreted to mean the PCO is incompetent and will therefore be removed.”
The Immigration boss also warned that the timeline for processing of passports should not exceed the stipulated 72-hour period.
CGI Babandede also called on “passport applicants to always get their breeder documents such as birth certificate, age declaration, certified guarantor’s forms from the right sources to avoid delay in the processing of their Passports.”
Meanwhile, the CGI said has also inaugurated a Committee “comprising the Asst. Comptroller-General of Immigration (Passports) Ndubisi Ndife and NIS Technical Partners, Messrs Iris Technologies Ltd and NewWorks Ltd to re-configure the NIS Passport platform in order to enable State Passport offices re-issue Passports to applicants who want to change their data on account of marriage or due to loss of previous ones.”
As a result of this, applicants will no longer have to travel to Abuja for any modifications on their passports, as they will now effect such changes in “passport offices in the states they reside.”
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