The Ikoyi Passport Office of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in Lagos has disclosed that it has produced 38,280 international passports from the period of June to October, 2021.
The Passport Control Officer (PCO) of the office (PCO) who doubles as the Deputy Controller of Immigration, Mr. Ibrahim Liman made the disclosure today in an interview in Lagos State.
According to him, NIS Ikoyi had produced 29,984, 32-page passport, and 8,246, 64-page passport during this period.
Liwan went further to appreciate all officers who sacrificed their extra time to ensure the passport office met the demands of the applicants, adding that their commitments would not go unnoticed.
He said that the officers worked 24 hours, all days of the week to ensure the demand of the applicants were met.
He further urged applicants to exercise patience anytime they applied for passports because NIS needed to do security check on individual applications before passports were released.
He explained that some challenges might hinder the timely release of some international passports to prospective applicants.
In his words, “This included disrupted National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) portal, inconsistent details submitted by some applicants.
“The NIS must send the details filed by applicant to NIMC to ensure they match the details on applicants National Identity Number (NIN).
“Many applicants submit Date of Birth that does not match the DOB of NIN. All the factors among others causes delay in passport production."
Liman also added that the NIS would not relent in its efforts to ensure that electricity did not disrupt the operations of the office adding that it got an inverter to enable the office operated efficiently.