By George Odok
The Cross River Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has urged Nigerians to exercise patience with the service for sequential production and issuance of their passports.
The NIS Comptroller, in the state, Mr Simbabi Baikie, gave the advice on Tuesday, at the 2022 SERVICOM week celebration of the command in Calabar with theme “Excellence Service Delivery, a Panacea for Corruption.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Baikie was represented by Mr Abubakar Abdulkadir, NIS Deputy Comptroller.
Baikie said that the command always met the demands of the applicants, hence the need for them to show understanding while they await the production of their passports.
The comptroller said that the customer week was to enlighten members of the public on the internal and external services rendered by the command and for feedback on areas to improve on.
He listed the services rendered to include monitoring of entry and exit of immigrants into the country, issuing of temporary work permit, diplomatic and tourist visas, and passports to eligible Nigerians.
Baikie said most Nigerians were impatient when applying for their passports, hence the pressure on the passport control officer.
“Somebody can apply for his or her international passport online and then visit the command that he wants the passport on that same day; this is not possible.
“Applicants should not wait until they are in need of passport before they come for it.
“Most Nigerians come to apply for passport a week to their visa interview and want it within that week and this is not possible.
“Even if you don’t have any need for a passport, you can have it as a bonafide Nigerian because it runs for several years.
“Anytime an opportunity comes, you can use your passport and apply or go for the the appointment, rather than come within a short time and put us under pressure to produce it,” he said.
The comptroller, therefore, advised Nigerians to visit any NIS passport office closer to them and apply for their international passports accordingly.
He said that questionnaires had been sent out to members of the public with a view to get their perception and areas the command could improve upon.
Speaking, the Passport Control Officer of the Command, Mrs Clementina Ogbudu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that her primary responsibility was to issue passports to bonafide Nigerians, irrespective of state or tribe.
Ogbudu said that between Jan. 4 and Feb. 14, the command produced 1,617 passports, adding that 281 had been issued to the applicants while others were still pending.
She said that an applicant seeking to have a passport must meet certain requirements: produce a certificate of state of origin, a declaration of age or birth certificate as the case may be and a guarantor who has a valid passport.
She urged applicants to always be patient after the application stage, and called on those yet to collect their passports to do so accordingly. (NAN)
