The Ikoyi Passport Office of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in Lagos State has issued no less than 60 per cent of the total passports in the country.
Mr Olugbenga Ayegbusi, the Passport Control Officer (PCO) in charge of the office and also a Deputy Comptroller of Immigration (DCI), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
He said that the office had to embark on extra work hours to meet the huge requests from passport applicants and surmount other challenges.
Ayegbusi said that in order to meet the demand, the personnel in the production unit were rostered for both day and night shifts.
He said, “The passport production team has always been working day and night to ensure the demands of applicants are met.
According to Ayegbusi, there is sense of responsibility at the passport office.
”It is not until I chase officers around before they perform their duties. Moreover, our amiable Comptroller – General of Immigration Service (CGIS) ,Mr Idris Jere, has been providing enabling environment to execute these duties ,” he said.
According to the PCO, the Jere-led administration is garnished with norms of culture and discipline.
”The issuance hall, under the tutelage of Jere, is like a banking hall because he knows that the image and the impression the public has about the service matters a lot.
”At the Ikoyi Passport Office , we also know that first and last impressions matters and last long.
”So, we present a positive image of the Ikoyi Passport Office to Nigerians,” he said .
NAN reports that the CGIS on Nov. 27 directed all passport offices in the country to work on Saturdays to clear backlogs of passport applications.
The period for this exercise is expected to be every Saturday starting from Dec. 3, 2022 to Jan. 28, 2023 between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m.
Jere was quoted from the directive to have said, “The motive is to enhance our service delivery to out esteemed clients.
”However, the Saturdays preceding the Christmas Day and the New Year Day are exempted.” (NAN)
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