The Nigerian Government has said that 45,000 passport booklets are yet to be collected by applicants at the various Nigeria Immigration Service enrolment centres worldwide.
This is coming as the government extends the deadline for clearing passport backlog initially for 31st May by one week, while the new date for the beginning of the new passport regime is now June 8.
A statement by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIM) on Thursday in Abuja said that at a review meeting with the management of the NIM, it was revealed that 230,000 passport booklets had been produced so far and members of the public are enjoined to visit their enrolment centres for collection.
It added that Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who chaired the meeting, noted that the government will not stop on its oars in making booklet shortage a thing of the past.
“We extended the deadline for clearing of backlogs by one week, because we found out many were yet to collect their passports, which had already been produced. The new passport regime will not begin on June 8,” Aregbesola said.
According to the statement, 45,000 passport booklets are yet to be collected across the world and that though text messages have been sent to the applicants, who are yet to pick up their passports, their names have been published on the service official website.
“Members of the public are enjoined to visit their enrolment centre to pick up their passports. Efforts are also ongoing to paste the list at each enrolment centre, however, there are concerns on Covid-19 so that protocols put in place by Nigeria and other host nations are not bridge,” the statement said.
GIK/APA