By Precious Ireoluwa
The Ekiti State Comptroller of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr. Kayode Ademola, has said that issuance of international passport to fresh applicants now takes minimum of six weeks after capturing, while passport renewal takes three weeks.
The Comptroller made this known while receiving the members of Nigeria Union Of Journalists, Online Media Chapel, Ekiti State Chapter at his office in Ado-Ekiti, the State capital.
The comptroller said the process is seamless if applicants’ data are correctly imputed in line with the National Identification Number ( NIN).
The NIS boss in the state said applicants are being attended to based on appointment date given.
“Applicants do not need to flood the centre because they have been given time to visit our office for whatever exercise they want to carry out”
Stressing further, Mr. Ademola added that applicants could apply online and bring the completed application to immigration office for the final processing, saying applicants do not necessarily need to be at the office before accessing the services of immigration.
According to him, the exercise has been digitalized, saying passport issuance with correct data now takes three to six weeks for re-issuance and fresh applicatio.
Clarifying why some applications are delayed, the Public Relations Officer of the Command in the State, Mr. Abiodun Daramola, said irregularity in names and dates of birth of applicants on their National Identification Number (NIN) was the cause of the delay in processing the international passport.
He advised the applicants to always ensure that every information they are supplying tallies with their NIN for easy and seamless processing.
Earlier, the chairman, Online Media Chapel of the Council in Ekiti, Comrade Ayodele Abere, who noted that the command usually got a good number of applicants, said there’s need for them to form a synergy with the media for timely and adequate reportage of immigration matters in the State.
In his reaction, the Comptroller acknowledged the importance of Media in the society and promised that the Command wouldn’t hesitate to partner with the online journalists for accurate reportage of their activities.
The NIS boss therefore, pledged that they would always avail Journalists the needed information that would put the Command in good perspective of the society.