Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Tuesday paid an unannounced visit to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) passport office in Gwagwalada, Abuja, where he warned applicants against paying any fees outside officially approved charges and criticised delays in passport processing.
During the inspection, the minister toured the VIP and Children sections of the passport office and interacted with immigration officials and passport applicants to ascertain why operations had not commenced promptly despite the office’s scheduled opening time.
Tunji-Ojo stressed that Nigerians had fully paid for passport services and should not be subjected to additional demands under any guise.
“I don’t want to hear that you are collecting money for diesel or paper. Nigerians have paid for their passports completely. Serve them diligently,” he said.
The minister expressed concern that only a handful of applicants had been attended to hours after the office was expected to open, despite the section being designated for expedited services.
“By 9:30am, I expect to see at least one or two applicants already processed. People are waiting downstairs, and our responsibility is to be efficient,” he said.
Questioning the pace of enrolment and biometric capturing, Tunji-Ojo noted that each applicant should be processed within minutes, adding that delays were unjustifiable.
“How long does it take to do enrolment? Three minutes. Three times seven is twenty-one minutes,” he stated.
Immigration officials explained that although the office was scheduled to open by 8am, operations began later after the generator was powered to provide electricity.
The minister criticised the practice of enrolling all applicants before commencing biometric capturing, insisting that both processes should run simultaneously to reduce waiting time.
“It doesn’t make sense. Some of these people need to go to work. Why wait until everyone is enrolled before capturing?” he asked.
Describing the situation as unacceptable, Tunji-Ojo said delays defeated the purpose of effective public service delivery.
“You are wasting people’s precious time. Time is expensive. This is unacceptable,” he said.
He also faulted the under-utilisation of the VIP and Children section, noting that applicants from other sections could have been redirected to ease congestion.
“It will not cost you anything if you use this place for them,” he added.
The minister reiterated that passport offices must prioritise efficiency, fairness and accountability, stressing that public officers are expected to serve Nigerians with diligence.
“Nigeria has no VIP. When you wear this uniform, you wear a uniform of sacrifice. You are here to work for the people,” he said.