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The Federal Government on Wednesday announced a two-week deadline for the issuance of passports in the country.
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the timeline in Abuja while briefing journalists on his earlier directive to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to clear more than 204,000 backlogs of passport applications.
He apologised to Nigerians that clearance of the backlog had spilled into three weeks as opposed to the two-week deadline he gave the NIS last month.
He stressed that the era when Nigerians waited for months to get their passports was over.
Tunji-Ojo commended officers and men of the NIS for efforts made so far and charged them to work round-the-clock to achieve his directive.
The minister said: “On September 7, we made a promise to sort out the backlogs in two weeks, but we made it in three weeks and I sincerely want to apologise to Nigerians for that.
“The `Renewed Hope’ administration of President Bola Tinubu is one that matches its words with actions.
“The issue of passport must be a right and not a privilege. A visa is a privilege but a passport is a right.
“For us, we are sure that if it can work at the NIS, it can work anywhere else. Nigeria is undergoing a process.
“We inherited 204,332 enrolments without passport issuance.
“We gave a marching order because the president is also on our necks to bring solutions and succor to Nigerians.”
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