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Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said the problem his ministry is confronted with is no longer passport availability.
According to him, the major challenge currently being faced is how to stop those not entitled to a Nigerian passport from owning one.
Speaking on Wednesday at a leadership summit organised by Young Lawyers Forum in Abuja, Tunji-Ojo said some Chadians, Cameroonians, and Nigeriens had the Nigerian passports.
He noted that the ministry had just introduced a verification exercise to prevent that.
Tunji-Ojo said, “On passport acquisition, the main issue as of today is not about availability. It is about preventing those who have no business having a Nigerian passport from owning one.
“We see Chadian, Cameroonian, and Nigeriens holding Nigerian passports. What we have been able to do to stop this is to introduce a verification exercise into the passport acquisition process. ”
He also said the Nigerian Immigration Service was trying its best to ensure the nation’s borders were adequately secured.
The minister said, “The security of the border is directly proportional to the security of a nation. There must be control over who comes in and who leaves our borders.
“This responsibility is the exclusive right of the Nigerian Immigration Service to safeguard our borders. We are bordered by four countries and only two are ECOWAS countries. We are doing everything to secure our borders.”
He noted that the National Identity Management Commission had cleared a total of 2.4 million backlogs of the national identity cards.
“At NIMC, we were able to clear 2.4 million backlogs we met on the ground,” he said.
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