Nigeria’s immigration agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has suspended the application for new international passports until June 1, 2021. The suspension which takes immediate effect was made public through the Comptroller of the NIS, Mohammad Babandede, during a briefing with newsmen on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.
The immigration boss went further to reveal that the new directive was an order from the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola. Mr. Babandede also disclosed that the reason for the suspension is to assist the NIS in clearing all passport applications that have been submitted before May 17, 2021.
Further, Babandede revealed that all payment portals have been closed and will be reopened on June 1, as deputy comptrollers will be deployed to application centres to monitor the process and ensure adherence to the directive.
The process of receiving and processing all fresh passport applications nationwide is suspended till 1st June 2021, when the new passport regime would have taken effect…The suspension of receiving and processing of fresh passport applications is to allow for clearance of every passport application that was received before 17th of May 2021
Mohammad Babandede
Source
Premium Times
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