A minimum of 9.31 million passports were processed and issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service between 2015 and 2022.
In 2022, it handled more than 1.8 million passport applications.
This information was disclosed by the Minister of the Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja’s 64th State House Ministerial Briefing, which was hosted by the Presidential Communications Team.
According to the breakdown, the service issued and processed 941,995, 1,035,668, and 1,136,855 passports in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.
In 2018, 2019 and 2020, it processed 1,242,953 and 780,047 passports respectively. While 1,056,422 and 1,899,683 passports were processed and issued in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
However, findings revealed that over 148,000 passports have been awaiting collection nationwide since 2020.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Anthony Akuneme, revealed this in an interview at the Service headquarters in Abuja.
Akuneme also noted that the NIS could not reach the owners, some of who input incorrect contact details at the point of registration.
He revealed that the Comptroller-General, Isa Idris, had deployed a team of senior officers nationwide to reach the owners of the abandoned passports.
The spokesperson, however, revealed that passports whose owners could not be reached at the end of the exercise would not be destroyed as they remain the property of the Federal Government.
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