The House of Representatives has said that it was abnormal to produce Nigerian passports outside the country in view of its security features.
Rep Timehin Adelegbe, Vice Chairman,
House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said
this at the public hearing on incessant
malpractices associated with diplomatic
postings and deliberate draining of
resources on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that the security features contained in the Nigerian passport should be guarded, adding that printing of Nigerian passport by a private firm outside the country was abnormal.
He said that most Nigerians were not
happy with the process and collection of
passports, adding that it was high time
the issue was taken seriously and
addressed.
In his reaction, the Comptroller General of
the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS),
Mohammed Babandede, said it was his
greatest desire to produce Nigerian
passports within the country. “Our wish is to produce even a booklet of Nigerian passport in our compound”, he said.
Speaking on the issue of nepotism in NIS
foreign posting, Babandede said that officers often go the extra mile to lobby their way as they consider such posting
the most lucrative.
“Be rest assured that it is not the intention
of the House of Reps to act in a manner that singles out any one individual or group, neither is it our desire to take punitive action as a matter of politics.
“We will conduct a thorough review of what is, by every standard, one of our nation’s premier institutions. And we will work with all who bear a responsibility to try to fix what needs fixing and rebuild what is broken”, he said.
