Endless queues at Passport Offices will no longer be tolerated, Interior minister tells NIS CG

Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has charged the Acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola to come up with measures to decongest passport collection centres, saying the President Bola Tinubu administration will not tolerate excuses and endless queues at Passport Offices.

The minister also charged heads of the service arms of the ministry on the need to walk their talk as the country is at a critical point and in dire need of transformation, adding that the president is interested in tangible results and not excuses.

Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Babatunde Alao in a statement on Wednesday morning disclosed that Dr Tunji-Ojo gave the charge on Tuesday while receiving briefings from the Acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola, and Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa.

He said; “I am just returning from a meeting with the President. He is not interested in excuses. We must work and deliver. Anyone who cannot help Nigeria to record progress must be kicked out because we can actually be great,” he said.

“Let me know your challenges. I am here to help you solve them. When you solve them and record successes, I am also successful. The time of talks is gone. So, keep your talk. Let us discuss solutions.

“Nigerians should not have to queue endlessly to get passports. No, this must stop. This is not the Nigeria of our dream. I need to know the challenges the agency is facing.

“We must all come together to deploy and invest our expertise to resolve them. Nigerians will take us up on our promises. If we have officers who are not ready for this rigorous process, we will excuse them.”

The minister reminded the agency heads that the new administration was not interested in usual talks and essay presentations, but actions to deliver value and growth.

He said; “Talks have not taken us anywhere as a nation. We must get it right. The Ministry of Interior is the heart of any nation. I want you to return to your tables and bring up action plans. It is my job to ensure the ministry is working.”

Dr Tunji-Ojo also underscored the importance of leveraging technology as a means to enhance efficiency and accuracy within the immigration and correctional services.

The minister highlighted that the implementation of advanced technological solutions could significantly reduce delays and streamline the handling of critical challenges.

“Technology has the potential to revolutionize our immigration and correctional systems, making them more agile and responsive. All I care, we need to embrace innovation and find ways to overcome the current challenges that often lead to bottlenecks in our processes. Our country is a great and important country. Let us live up to expectations.”