The Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Tuesday, 12th September, said 55,000 of the 200,000 passports backlog had been cleared.
This was contained in a statement by the Director of Press, Ministry of Interior, Afonja Ajibola.
According to him, more would be cleared before the end of the two-week deadline given to the Immigration boss, Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola, adding that after the backlogs are cleared, Nigerians should be able to obtain their passports in two weeks.
He also made this known when the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, visited his office in Abuja.
The Interior Minister, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, earlier in a post on Thursday, 7th September, 2023, on his X handle, stated that the directive was one of several ‘swift measures’ aimed at eliminating barriers which applicants encounter.
As part of swift measures to remove all bottlenecks in the acquisition of passport and immigration documents, I engaged service providers to the immigration service to ensure the backlogs of applications are cleared within the next two weeks
Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior
The minister added that President Bola Tinubu had no interest in excuses, and urged the agency heads to act accordingly as the country is in a critical situation and desperately needs transformation.
Story: Asma’u Sani