Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has insisted that despite the public outcry and complaints from several quarters, passport booklets are not scarce.
The spokesperson of the Service, Sunday James, who stated this in a statement signed on behalf of the Comptroller General of NIS, Muhammad Babandede, said it was reacting to some media reports alleging scarcity of passports booklets across the Passport Issuing Centres.
He said members of the public and indeed passports applicants are hereby advised to disregard the rumour on the scarcity of passport booklets and go to any of the Service passport issuing centres nearest to them to process their applications.
James said “The comptroller general wishes to use this opportunity to allay the fears of international passport applicants that the NIS is not experiencing any scarcity of passport booklets. This clarification becomes necessary to avoid unnecessary tension and anxiety among the populace concerning availability of passport booklets.
“This statement is against the backdrop of interviews credited to some individuals alleging scarcity of passport booklets which is simply an expression of personal opinion and not that of the NIS.
“We have as a matter of acceptable standard practice and procedures informed the public adequately on any scarcity of passports in any of our facilities.
“In compliance with presidential executive orders on transparency, any applicant who could not be issued passport booklet due to any reasons including scarcity of booklet will be informed in writing.â€
