Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola on Friday directed officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS )to explore the possibility of issuing the passports to genuine and qualified applicants within 48 hours.
With the deployment of state-of-the-art technology, the 48-hour timeline is achievable, Aregbesola said in Lagos while flagging off a retreat for NIS top officials.
But he said those charged with the responsibility would have to first eliminate human contact and deal with racketeering.
He said the pains which many Nigerians are subjected to in their bid to procure the important travel document must be stopped.
Aregbesola said: “From information available to me, it is possible with the right technology in place for the Nigeria Immigration Service to issue international passports to applicants who have paid the official fees after 48 hours.
“If there is any delay, the officials should communicate to the affected applicants. One of the ways to achieve this is to deploy the right technology and eliminate human contact in the passport issuance process.
“This way, we eliminate sharp practices and racketeering built around the process. This is the way to go and all officials should shun all forms of corruption in the discharge of their duties.”
Comptroller General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede, agreed with the minister on the pains Nigerians go through in obtaining passports.
He said: “I must admit to the minister that many eligible passport applicants are currently not having any appreciable satisfaction in interfacing with our passport window while applying.
“The process of acquiring our passports still remains not only very confusing and frustrating but also very fraudulent.”