The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has issued a formal response following public criticism from investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo, who accused the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, of failing to revolutionize the country's passport application system.
A Promise Versus Reality
In a post on his X account, Soyombo detailed his six-month struggle to renew his international passport, contradicting the Minister's widely publicized promise of a one-week processing timeline. The journalist revealed he applied and paid N109,700 on July 31, 2025, through the NIS portal.
His experience at a Lagos office was fraught with challenges, including being mocked by officers for starting the process online and facing a network failure that forced him to return the next day for biometric capture. Months later, his application status remained stuck on "passport pending production."
Soyombo expressed his long-standing skepticism, recalling that he had doubted the Minister's ability to reform the "messily-corrupt" system back in January 2024. He described Tunji-Ojo as a master of "gallery play" who manipulates public sentiment through media for personal branding.
Immigration Service's Counter-Argument
In a statement released on its official X handle, the NIS directly addressed Soyombo's claims. The agency asserted that the specific passport in question has already been produced and is ready for delivery.
The Service defended its overall performance, stating that the standard processing time for passports is now two to three weeks. It highlighted that over 1.3 million passports were produced in 2025 alone, and cited the recent improvement of the Nigerian passport's ranking on the Henley Passport Index as evidence of systemic progress.
The NIS acknowledged that delays can occur due to factors like incomplete applications, necessary security checks, or technical glitches, which it stated are not uncommon in similar systems globally. It emphasized that a single delayed case should not define a reform that has "brought sanity to a crisis."
Planned Improvements and Other Complaints
As a direct result of the feedback, the NIS announced it would introduce a new feature to its application tracker. This feature, to be labeled "passport produced," will explicitly notify applicants when their document is ready for collection.
The public discussion also prompted other Nigerians to share their experiences. One applicant based in the United Kingdom stated he had applied in August 2025 and was still awaiting delivery. The NIS responded to this separately, claiming there are no passport backlogs in the UK, except for applications involving a change of data.
This exchange underscores the ongoing public scrutiny of government promises regarding efficient service delivery and the tangible challenges faced by citizens in navigating official processes.
