- Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki has tasked the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to ensure availability of passport booklets always
- Saraki gave the charge while commissioning a new passport office at the National Assembly
- He decried the long period of waiting that Nigerians are subjected to before they collect their passports
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Monday, January 29, urged the authorities of the Nigeria Immigration Service to work to ensure the availability of the international passport in view of the hardships often encountered by Nigerians who daily apply for the document.
Saraki who gave the charge while commissioning a new passport office at the National Assembly, described as worrisome a situation where Nigerians who apply for international passports have to wait for a long time before the passports are delivered to them.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, Saraki however lauded the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, for the "good initiative" of locating a passport office at the National Assembly.
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Saraki noted that the establishment of the passport office at the National Assembly “will help to further strengthen the relationship between the legislative arm of government and the executive.”
He continued: “Be that as it may, I believe that what is important to us as we get to understand their challenges is the concern we have as representatives of the people over the unavailability of passports where Nigerians have to wait a long time for passports to be delivered to them and the efficiency of it too.
“I hope that the Comptroller General of Immigration will work to see how we can improve on this so that Nigerians can have their passports as at when due. I have traveled to a few countries and one of the complaints we get is the issue of unavailability of passport booklets.”
He commended the CG of of NIS for the initiative and would continue to support the agency to improve on its services and ensuring that adequate passports are available for Nigerians who need them.
“We will continue to support you to see what we can do in improving your efficiency and making the passport booklets readily available to Nigerians as at when they need passport renewal,” Saraki said.
On his part, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, thanked Saraki for commissioning the centre, an initiative he said is meant to further strengthen the good relations between the executive and the legislative arms of government.
“Now that the Senate President has commissioned this passport office, it will now be easier for members of the National Assembly to get their passports issued or renewed. They no longer need to come to our office along the Abuja Airport Road for that,” Babandede said.
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Meanwhile, Saraki has said the Nigerian Senate is working to improve the nation's electoral process by building on the gains of the 2015 general elections.
The Senate President made the remarks when he played host to a United Nations (UN) Electoral Needs Assessment Mission Team in Abuja on Tuesday, January 23.
He welcomed the team, led by a senior political/electoral affairs officer of the UN, Serge Kubwimana to Nigeria and appreciated the body on behalf of the Senate for the interest and proactive steps they have taken to find out areas the UN can assist to improve the 2019 general elections.
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Source: Naija.ng
