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Despite Minister’s claims, passports still take 6 months to process in Lagos

Published

1 year ago

October 12, 2023

Nigerian passports

Despite Minister’s claims, passports still take 6 months to process in Lagos

Since assuming office, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the minister of interior, has made multiple commitments, especially as it concerns passport issuance and the operations of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

One of those commitments was the issuance of passports within two weeks of application. In a September 5 interview, Tunji-Ojo said the ministry was creating a portal on its website to enable citizens to lodge complaints and track their passport if it had yet to be issued to them in the two-week timeframe.

He said the page was being created and would be up in two weeks, and that delays traced to any officers would bring about repercussions.

“I assure you that it is not going to be business as usual. Part of what we are doing at the moment is creating a page on our website. I believe in the next two weeks it should be up. And within the next couple of days, the social media platforms will be up,” said the minister.

“What it means basically is that any Nigerian, if you apply for your passport and it goes beyond two weeks before your passport is issued to you, you can send us your enrollment number and the specific passport office. There are officers now that have been delegated to that responsibility.”

It’s been over a month, and there is no such page on either the Ministry of Interior or NIS’ website.

Passport collection time has also not been made to reflect the two-week timeframe for processing and issuance, and money is still the only language to use to be treated to an efficient process. FIJ found all this in a visit to NIS’ Alausa office on Wednesday.

*Nigeria Immigration Service Office, Alausa, Lagos State*

Tunji-Ojo has, no doubt, recorded some success since his assumption of office. On September 7, he issued a directive to clear the 204,332 passport application backlog in immigration offices across the country in two weeks. While they were unable to meet the stipulated deadline, by the fourth week, the NIS announced that the backlog had been cleared.

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“91,981 passport booklets have been collected so far. There are 112,351 others not yet collected,” they announced, urging citizens to go pick up their passports.

On Wednesday, FIJ visited the NIS Alausa office. As usual, it was crowded with people looking to register, capture data and collect passports, and although staff said the crowd was not as bad anymore, it did not make it any easier for applicants who waited under the sun for hours.

“I thought that if I came early, I’d be attended to quickly. I’ve been here since 7 am just to collect my passport. It was supposed to be ready in August, but it wasn’t until October,” one lady said, before adding that she wished she hadn’t submitted her slip.

“I would have paid somebody to fast-track the process for me, but I have already submitted my slip. It is faster if you know somebody or pay them.”

She was not wrong. I met a young man who only applied for a passport last month and was issued it yesterday. How is your passport ready? I asked, to which he replied, “I had to pay.”

“If you pay, you can get it faster. I paid N25,000, which is why I was able to pick it up in such a short time. My friend, who applied in January, only just got his. He didn’t pay.”

Two more people who spoke with FIJ and collected their passports also said they paid to fast-track the process. Those who didn’t waited months, some as long as eight months, to be issued, and when they finally arrived to pick it up, they stood long hours in a queue as preference was given to those who paid to fast-track the process.

*Confirmation Slip Given to Passport Applicant on Wednesday, September 11 With Collection Date in Six Months’ Time*

PASSPORT COLLECTION DATE: SIX MONTHS POST-APPLICATION

On Thursday, FIJ called NIS to inquire about the implementation of the two-week passport issuance policy. The officer who responded said that, like other Nigerians, the NIS had only heard the information.

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“The implementation, I’m yet to see. They say things that they want to do, and we as Nigerians are waiting to see. Already, there is a programme on ground that says that when you are doing a renewal, it’s for three weeks, and if you are doing it fresh, it’s for six weeks, and then if you are doing a change of data, it’s for three months,” he said.

“For the old process, I know. For the new process, I don’t know. We can only quote what the minister said.”

FIJ was, however, able to sight the confirmation slip of an applicant whose data was captured on Wednesday, and the collection date stipulated was six months’ time, in March 2024.

When FIJ told the officer about this, he advised the applicant to return to the immigration office and confirm. “It must have been a mistake,” he said. Fresh passports take only six weeks, and renewal takes three weeks, he repeated.

FIJ is convinced that this was not an error, as multiple other applicants who received their confirmation slip at the Alausa office on Wednesday received similar timelines.

Furthermore, FIJ called the Ministry of Interior to inquire about the two-week application turnaround time and report the six-month issuance timeline recorded at the NIS Alausa office, but the representative redirected us to the NIS for information.

Despite Minister’s claims, passports still take 6 months to process in Lagos

FIJ

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Mother, daughter who stole ponmo, stock fish in Ogun jailed six months

Published

6 hours ago

March 29, 2025

Trends Admin

Mother, daughter who stole ponmo, stock fish in Ogun jailed six months

A Magistrates’ Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State yesterday sentenced a mother, Falilatu Amidu, and her daughter, Ayisatu, to six months imprisonment each for stealing dry ponmo, stock fish and dried meat valued N1 million

The defendants, who reside at No 21 Ago-Oko area of Abeokuta, were convicted on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The Magistrate, Mrs O.O. Odumosu, held that the evidence presented by the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the convicts were guilty of the offence as charged.

Odumosu sentenced both mother and daughter to six months in prison each with an option of N5,000 fine.

She ordered that the convicts should refund N100,000 each to the complainant as restitution before accessing the N5,000 fine option.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Kehinde Fawunmi, had told the court that the defendants committed the offence at Lafenwa market sometime in August 2024.

Fawunmi explained that Falilatu conspired with her daughter, Ayisatu, to steal a big sack containing stock fish, dried ponmo and dried cow meat valued N1million, belonging to one Mrs kafayat Alao.

According to him, one of the defendants, Falilatu, used to help the complainant to carry load from her store in Lafenwa to where the complainant sells her items.

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“The complainant asked her to help her pick some goods from the store. She waited for over an hour and did not see the defendant, which made her to go to the store to check on her.

“On getting to the store, she did not find Falilatu, and she noticed a big bag containing dried meat, ponmo and stock fish was missing while the defendant was nowhere to be found,” he said.

Fawunmi further explained that Falilatu stole the goods and gave it to her daughter (Ayisatu) to sell. He said Ayisatu received the goods from her mother, knowing that they were stolen.

The prosecutor noted that the offence committed contravened sections 516, 390(9) and 127 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun 2006.

Mother, daughter who stole ponmo, stock fish in Ogun jailed six months

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Ex-Rivers HoS wife cries for help over husband’s safety

Published

6 hours ago

March 29, 2025

Trends Admin

Florence Nwaeke and her husband, George Nwaeke

Ex-Rivers HoS wife cries for help over husband’s safety

The wife of the immediate past Rivers State Head of Service, George Nwaeke, has voiced concerns over his whereabouts and well-being following his resignation, saying she has been unable to reach him.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Florence Nwaeke said she became alarmed after seeing an online interview attributed to her husband, which she found suspicious.

“When he got to Abuja, he called that he had landed. I said, ‘Thank God,’” she recalled.

However, after coming across the interview, she began to fear something was amiss.

“I said, ‘That is not my husband. That is not my husband.’

“So I sent him a message. I said, ‘Are you under duress?’ I sent him a message. I said, ‘Have they kidnapped you? Talk to me now. Why are you not talking to me?’ This is the message I sent to him when I saw his interview online,” she said.

Overcome with worry, she made an emotional appeal for help.

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“Oh, Jesus, help me. Nigerians, help me. My husband is in trouble. My husband is in trouble. My husband is in trouble. My husband is in trouble. Look at the message I sent to him. See the message I sent to him. I said, ‘Daddy, why? Were you in hostage?’ I said, ‘Why didn’t you talk to me?’ These are the messages I sent to him, but he didn’t reply to me. His numbers are not going through. Nigerians, help me! Nigerians, help me!” she pleaded.

Her concerns follow allegations made by George Nwaeke against suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Nwaeke had accused the governor of plotting to back Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed for the 2027 presidency and of using militants to attack oil facilities. He also alleged that Fubara ordered the bombing of the State House of Assembly in 2023 to prevent his impeachment.

Florence Nwaeke, beyond raising alarm in the media, also directed a personal plea to the governor.

“Governor, help me. My husband is in trouble. He is in trouble,” she implored, claiming that her husband resigned under pressure.

However, Fubara dismissed the claims, insisting that Nwaeke had been influenced by external forces.

“The truth is that Dr. Nwaeke has been compromised, and whatever he is saying is only aimed at fulfilling his promise to those who may have paid or coerced him to lie against me,” the governor stated late Friday.

Fubara also released screenshots purportedly showing chats between Nwaeke and his Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie, where Nwaeke allegedly requested financial assistance.

Ex-Rivers HoS wife cries for help over husband’s safety

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Fubara reacts as Ex-HOS, Nwaeke accuses him of bombing oil pipelines, Rivers Assembly

Published

6 hours ago

March 29, 2025

Trends Admin

Siminalayi Fubara

Fubara reacts as Ex-HOS, Nwaeke accuses him of bombing oil pipelines, Rivers Assembly

Suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara has denied accusations from his former Head of Service, George Nwaeke, disclosing that he never ordered the bombing of the Rivers State House of Assembly or any Oil Pipeline.

Fubara, in a statement made available to newsmen, stated that no such thing occurred during his administration. The statement read;

“My attention has been drawn to a press briefing by the former Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke aired on Channels Television on Friday the 28th of March 2025. Ordinarily, I would not have responded to his claims, but to correct the erroneous impression such allegations may create in the minds of the people, and the disaffection it is bound to cause in the state and the country.”

“First, on the claim that he was aware of my discussions and plans to support Bala Mohammed’s alleged 2027 presidential bid, it is laughable that Dr. Nwaeke would be part of any high level political meeting as Head of Service, much more sitting in my alleged night meetings with Bala Mohammed and militants like he claimed. Howbeit, none of such meetings ever held.”

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“The truth is that the whole world knew when the Bauchi State Governor, as Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum visited the State, and there was nothing secret about the visits.”

“It is also ludicrous for Dr. Nwaeke to claim that he was aware of my meetings to encourage attacks on oil pipelines and other National assets in the State, as there was no time I held any meeting with militants or any criminal group to destabilise the State. It is on record that I have been at the forefront preaching peace in the State even in the face of obvious provocations.”

“The truth is that Dr. Nwaeke has been compromised, and whatever he is saying is only aimed at fulfilling his promise to those who may have paid or coerced him to lie against me.”

“I call on all well meaning Nigerians and the good people of Rivers State to disregard everything said by Dr. Nwaeke as they are mere desperate attempts to discredit me and my administration, and undermine the peace process by Mr. President”.