Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo on Tuesday carried out an unscheduled inspection of the Nigerian Immigration Service passport office in Gwagwalada, Abuja, where he voiced strong dissatisfaction over slow passport processing and warned against the collection of any extra fees from applicants.

The minister toured the VIP and Children’s section of the facility, interacting with both officials and members of the public, and questioned why applicants were still waiting long after the office was expected to be fully operational.

“I don’t want to hear that you are collecting money for diesel or paper. Nigerians have paid for their passports completely. Serve them diligently,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He expressed concern that only a few applicants had been attended to several hours after opening time, despite the section being designated for faster service.

“So it means that by 9:30am, I expect to see at least one or two applicants here. Because I can see some people waiting downstairs, and our responsibility is to be efficient,” he said.

Tunji-Ojo also queried the pace of enrolment and biometric capturing, stressing that each applicant should be processed within minutes.

“How long does it take to do an enrolment? Three minutes. So three times seven, that is twenty-one minutes,” he said.

Immigration officers explained that although operations were scheduled to begin by 8am, activities only started around 9am after the generator was switched on.

“We are supposed to open by eight,” an official said, noting that power was restored after applicants had already arrived.

The minister criticised the practice of completing enrolment for all applicants before commencing biometric capturing, insisting that both processes should run simultaneously to reduce delays.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. People are there waiting. Some of these people still need to go to work. Some of these people have other things to do,” he said.

“So why must you wait until you enrol everybody before you do capturing?” he added.

Describing the situation as unacceptable, Tunji-Ojo said the delays defeated the purpose of service delivery.

“You are wasting people’s precious time. Time is money. Time is expensive. It is unacceptable,” he said.

He also faulted the underuse of the VIP and Children’s section, noting that applicants waiting in other sections could have been redirected to ease congestion.

“It will not cost you anything if you use this place for them,” he said.

The minister concluded by stressing that passport offices must prioritise efficiency and fairness.

“Nigeria has no VIP. When you wear this uniform, you wear a uniform of sacrifice. You are here to work for the people,” Tunji-Ojo said.

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