The Federal Government has disclosed that plans are underway to commence home delivery of Nigerian passports to applicants.
OsunDaily News reports that the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed on Saturday this at the opening of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Passport Front Desk Office in Auchi, Edo State.
The minister disclosed there are negotiations with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to utilise its speedy mail service to start delivering passports to Nigerians who opt for such a service.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Sola Fasure, the minister said: “We are in the final stage of concluding negotiations with NIPOST to begin using its speed mail service to deliver passports to Nigerians wherever they are in the world after production.”
While speaking about the new Passport Front Office in Auch, Aregbesola noted that the project was part of the government’s effort towards effective service delivery to Nigerians.
He explained that “It was the intention of the government to provide the passport to anyone desirous of it within a reasonable time, at an affordable price and without any stress.
“Our current working schedule is that fresh application would take six weeks after biometric data registration and three weeks for renewal. This is reasonable, competitive, and in line the global best practices.
“The challenge, however, is the waiting period at the point of application and data registration. All applicants will be put in a queue, depending on the centre of their choice, to determine the registration date.
“Regrettably, it might take two months in some highly competitive centres where the application is very high. We have no control over this.”
The minister, however, explained that the opening of more front desk offices was an intentional act by the government t to increase the registration centres and reduce the waiting period before biometric data capture.
He added, “This year alone, the Minister of Interior had been in Daura in Katsina State, Alimosho in Lagos, Ilesa in Osun, Zaria in Kaduna, and Oyo in Oyo State to commission Passport Front Desk Offices.”
