LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Nigerian government has announced that 1.3 million passports were produced in 2021, saying that the issue of shortage of booklets had been fixed.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, spoke on Tuesday at the commissioning of the Enhanced Passport Production Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The centre will produce passports for applicants from Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States.
Aregbesola noted that sufficient booklets have been sent to all the centres across the country.
The minister said the NIS had dispatched 11,000 booklets to Ikoyi, 11,000 to Alausa and 8,000 to FESTAC centres in Lagos.
“Last year alone, we provided 1.3 million passports to Nigerians. As of today, there is no booklet shortage in Nigeria.
“As of the second quarter of this year (June), the NIS has provided 645,000 passports out of the 750,000 applications received,” he said.
Aregbesola said there was no excuse again for non-issuance within a reasonable period and urged Nigerians to apply online to avoid being shortchanged.
The official further advised applicants for the Nigerian passport to apply early enough before their travel date.
“We have provided a window of six weeks and three weeks for fresh application and renewal respectively, after biometric data capture, by which time the passport will be ready for collection,” he added