The Nigeria Immigration Service has assured applicants of Ikoyi Passport Office that it would clear all existing backlog of applications within one week through the deployment of a special taskforce to the command.
Amos Okpu spokesman of the Immigration disclosed this in a statement made available to DAILYFOCUS NIGERIA on Friday.
According to him, the acting Comptroller General of Immigration (Ag. CGI), Isah Jere Idris is in receipt of reports about delays being experienced by some applicants who applied for Passports at the Ikoyi Passport Office Lagos, and has ordered a special Task Force to proceed to Ikoyi Passport Office to clear all existing backlog of applications.
Okpu said that already, the team has arrived Ikoyi Lagos and commenced the clearance exercise to ensure that all outstanding Passport applications are sorted out within the week.
It would be recalled that upon assumption of Office, the acting Comptroller General has promised to deepen the Passport issuance reform efforts to ensure seamless Passport issuance processes across Issuing Centres.
While quoting the Immigration top brass, :”He also use this opportunity to assure Passport applicants who have been enrolled into the Passport system in Ikoyi Lagos that the Team shall commence issuance of notifications for collection to applicants whose Passports are ready.
“He has promised that some drastic changes will be made in the Station to improve the quality of service delivery.”
Meanwhile, the acting Comptroller General appealed to prospective passport applicants to endeavour to visit the service’s website immigration.gov.ng to apply and make payment for the Passport categories of their choice and avoid patronizing anybody who would request them to make any cash payments for Passports.
By Roland Ekama
