NIS orders passport offices to work on Saturdays over backlog

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has directed passport offices across the country to work on Saturdays to clear the backlog of passport applications.

This is contained in a statement made available by the Public Relations Officer of the NIS, Mr Tony Akuneme, in Abuja on Saturday.
Akuneme said that the Comptroller-General, Idris Isah Jere, who gave the directive also approved the deployment of Passport Controllers to Ondo and Ekiti states.
He said the directive was to enable the Service to reduce the backlog resulting from the 2020 and 2021 prolonged lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The CG has directed that passport offices across the country with a high volume of pending applications work on Saturdays.
“The period for this exercise is expected to be every Saturday commencing from Dec. 3, 2022, to Jan. 28, 2023, between the period of 10am and 2pm. This is to enhance our service delivery to our esteemed clients.
“The Saturdays preceding the Christmas and New Year holidays are exempted, ” he said.
The spokesman said passport offices that fell within this category should contact him by Monday for further details.
Akuneme stressed the resolve of the CG to make passport services available and stress-free to the travelling public, especially during the festive season.