The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has dismissed reports of shortage of passport booklets across the nation.
Aregbesola made the disclosure on Wednesday during the roll out of “enhanced e-passport” and commissioning of the passport production center in Port Harcourt which covers AkwaIbom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers and Rivers States.
The Minister described those peddling news of passport shortage as “unpatriotic and unscrupulous Nigerians”, insisting that the “enhanced e-passport is a product of the latest technology” which cannot be seen in most advanced countries.
He said his ministry is leaving “no stone unturned” in the quest in making passports available for Nigerians who desired it, warning passport applicants against patronizing “scammers”.
Aregbesola, who revealed that online application of the enhanced e-passport can only take three to six weeks for the passport to be processed, assured that the government was working to remove the bad eggs from the immigration service.
In his address, the Comptroller General of Immigration Service, Isah Idris, said the “enhanced e-passport” is of different categories.
He warned that the immigration services do not “collect cash from any applicant” as all payment should be made online.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike who was represented by the Deputy Governor Ipalibo Harry-Banigo expressed happiness for the launch of e-passport production center in Port Harcourt.
