Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola has disclosed that a total of 1,350,000 passport booklets were printed and distributed by the Federal Government in 2021, stressing that the development almost doubled the output achieved in 2020.
The minister disclosed this at a Lagos Business School Forum with the theme, “Nigeria in Challenging Times: The Contributions of the Ministry of Interior and Opportunities for Private Sector Participation,”.
The virtual event was part of LBS public sector engagement designed to promote more public-private sector dialogue and partnership to enhance Nigeria’s inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development.
Providing an update on passports issued to date, Aregbesola said, “1,350,000 passports booklets were produced, and distributed worldwide as of December 31st 2021, against 764,293 booklets in 2020.” The minister said there is increasing demand for passports, which is mounting pressure on the processing structure and resources.
He said the ministry is aware of challenges faced by applicants and is working tirelessly to alleviate them. He stated that the ongoing passport reforms across the different passport offices in the federation will be a continuous process until all Nigerians can seamlessly and effortlessly apply and get their passports.
“The current experience will soon be a thing of the past. We are working very hard to reform the passport application and issuance process. This reform is going to be a continuous process. We want to significantly enhance the integrity of the Nigerian Passport by ensuring that non-Nigerians are not able to obtain it. We also want to bring passport service closer to the people as much as possible and eliminate touting and corruption in the process,” he added.
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