The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says about 97,000 passport booklets issued were uncollected in the 36 states nationwide including Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Service Public Relations Officer, (SPRO) Comptroller of Immigration, Mr Tony Akuneme said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

Akuneme said that the service recently found out that Lagos State had half of the uncollected passports. He said that there was also a danger that half of the owners of the uncollected passports could not be reached due to lack of proper documentation because of a third party involvement.

He also said that the essence of state of emergency declaration was to draw attention of the media so they could deepened the process for the service as alot of people do not know if their passport were ready for collection.

“Some of them engaged agents to help them in their passport processing and these agents might be doing for alot of persons. “They end up dropping wrong contacts and thereby making it difficult to reach out to the owners of these passports when they are ready for collection. This is a big challenge, “he said.

The Acting Comptroller General, NIS, Mrs Caroline Adepoju had recently declared state of emergency on passport issues across the country. The SPRO said that the service recently found out that most applicants complains also bothers on some human factor and technical factor which included slow speed of Internet.

According to him, the CG didn’t want to leave anyone in doubt as to the issue of passport processing being her core area of interest. “That’s how she came about that term of declaring state of emergency in the passport issues.
“When the acting CG assumed office, she made it very clear that she was going to focus on Passport reforms and staff welfare, “he said.

According to him, the Lagos state Governor is willing to collaborate with the CG in terms of expanding the Passport services on Lagos State. “So, we went to Lagos State Governor to help in terms of giving us office space where we can set up front desk offices and immediately, the governor was very positive in his response.

” Lagos is a tourism place and immigration have a key role to play in the mind of anybody visiting the state.
“So it was a welcome development and you can see that the state of emergency that was declared is already yielding fruits as the governor accepted CGs request on land allocation to build staff quarters in Lagos, “he said.

Akuneme also stated that the service however, needed the Media to tell Nigerians that people should not think there were no passport booklets. He said, “there are booklets issued that are not collected. It is ironical, we don’t have problem of booklet, we don’t have shortage of booklets.

“What we have had in the last one or two years is a sudden upsurge in the number of Nigerians wanting to travel . We felt it was also related to COVID-19, “he said. Akuneme assured that the result would be instant as more facilities were going to be put in place to curtail any challenges of passport issuance across the country.(NAN).

Tinubu promises improved trade, border policies with Benin Republic.

President Bola Tinubu, on Friday in Paris, said Nigeria is ready to work with the Republic of Benin towards economic prosperity as both states need each other, especially on trade issues, security and border controls.

The President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, disclosed this in a statement he signed late Friday titled ‘Africa remains centrepiece of Nigeria’s economic, foreign policy, says President Tinubu in Paris.’

“We must recognise the fact that we need each other. We are in a loop and no one should separate us,” Tinubu said when he received the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, after the Summit on New Global Financing Pact.

“I just appointed someone who will work with you as comptroller general of customs, Adewale Bashir Adeniyi, and he will be available for our common interest.”

Describing Nigeria’s relations with Benin as that of Siamese twins, joined at the hips, and supported by other friendly countries, Tinubu assured Talon that his administration will always be open and accessible to all neighbouring countries.

The meeting comes barely 48 hours after the Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transportation, Ibrahim Musa, disclosed that the Federal Government has approved the re-opening of the Seme border for the importation of vehicles.

Seme Border is a settlement in Nigeria on the border with Benin. He said beyond being a major player in the subregion, Nigeria will sustain its spotlight on African countries as the fulcrum of its policies on the economy and foreign policy, noting that trade issues, security, and border controls will be mutually implemented.

Tinubu apprised Talon of his most recent move to improve border controls with the West African state saying “I just appointed someone who will work with you as Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Bashir Adeniyi, and he will be available for our common interest.”

The President noted that bilateral relations with African countries, particularly at the sub-regional level will be enhanced for shared benefits in areas of security, health, energy, education and diplomacy.

“We are ready to improve relations. Africa has been the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. “I believe in Africa. We have the necessity to grow the continent. The world’s economy is wobbling, and Africa has been left behind,” said Tinubu.

He lamented that Africa’s high-risk rating has made it suffer “higher interest rates on borrowing.”“We are always classified as high risk. We must work together for systematic recovery and growth,” he added.

Responding, Talon said he was inspired with renewed hope for the sub-region and Africa at the inauguration of President Tinubu in Abuja, pledging to provide support on trade and security policy, especially at the borders.

“We are prepared to work with you, Your Excellency, in implementing policies that will protect our economies at land and sea entries. Whatever is forbidden in Nigeria will also be forbidden in Benin,” he added. President Tinubu also had bilateral meetings with Swiss President, Alain Berset, and the President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina.