Nigerian govt urges citizens to opt for e-payment when applying for passport

The Federal Government has urged citizens to opt for e-payment during passport application as it seeks to check activities of unscrupulous officials.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made the call on Monday in Oyo state during the rollout of the Enhanced e-Passport with Polycarbonate Data Page.

According to the minister, the development seeks to protect citizens from patronising touts and unscrupulous officials when applying for the documents.

He said: “Part of the reforms is the migration of passport application and payments to digital platforms. But we regret to observe that applicants still patronise touts and unscrupulous officials in the hope to beat the system and get expedited services.

“When they were disappointed, they come to report to us. Of course, we have zero tolerance for corruption and subversion of due process. We, therefore, take seriously any such report and invoke the necessary disciplinary measures.

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“But I will implore applicants to stop patronising touts and our officials directly. Follow the process we put in place. Apply for passports and pay online. The only engagement with our staff is the enrolment of your biometrics. Patronising touts and passport office officials doesn’t always end well, but rather serves to defeat our purpose of eliminating corruption and infusing integrity to the passport administration process.

“Our template stipulates maximum of six weeks for obtaining new passports and maximum of three weeks for renewal. We work within this schedule to enable us to investigate any claims made by applicants and verify them, for the final document we issue them to have integrity. If there are challenges, wait. Eventually, you will get your passport before your due date of travel, if you apply early enough. You will still have long enough time to apply for visa and other travel documents.

“Nowhere in the world is passport administration done on a wait-and-get basis except in extreme emergencies. The only wait-and-get passport is passport photograph.”

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