Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, the interior minister, reported on Tuesday that 55,000 of the 200,000 passport backlog had been cleared.
He added that additional backlogs would be addressed before the end of the two-week deadline provided to the head of immigration, and that after the backlogs are eliminated, Nigerians should be able to acquire their passports in two weeks.
When Dr. Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, visited his office in Abuja, he spoke.
Afonja Ajibola, the ministry of interior’s director of press, said this in a statement.
Nigerians must not lose their status as Nigerian citizens by being denied a passport, he argued.
“He restated his conviction that we must act immediately, adding that he receives information every morning and that, as of this morning, he has been informed that approximately 55,000 passports had been cleared out of the 200,000 passport backlog he commanded to be cleared in two weeks.
He continued by promising that once the backlogs are cleared, Nigerians will begin to benefit from the effective service of having their passports issued within two weeks of application.
Speaking, Edu offered access to low-interest loans to the widows of deceased members of the Federal Fire Service, Immigration Service, Nigerian Correctional Service, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
She further pledged that programs for skill development will empower prisoners at the correctional facilities.
She stated, “The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Beta Edu, said her Ministry’s Mandate has been enlarged to reach more Nigerians, who number about 16 million and are vulnerable to insecurity that could force their displacement and result in humanitarian catastrophes.
She further stated that her ministry is prepared to step in and provide for the widows of deceased NSCDC, correctional officers, men and officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service, and Fire Service officers through the granting of soft loans. She claims that a skills development program will soon allow inmates in correctional facilities to benefit from a similar intervention.
“She, however, said that since the Federal Fire Service is an organization under the Ministry’s supervision that also responds to disasters, her attention will also be given in that direction; while NSCDC’s role in security intelligence will also be activated as part of the joint partnership.”
