Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, paid an unannounced visit to a Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) passport office in Gwagwalada, a satellite town in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, where he openly criticised slow passport processing and cautioned applicants not to pay any money beyond approved fees.
Okay News reports that the minister’s surprise inspection focused on the office’s Very Important Person (VIP) and Children section, where he questioned both officials and applicants about why long queues persisted hours after the centre was expected to begin operations, despite the unit being designed for quicker service.
During the visit, Tunji-Ojo collected feedback directly from applicants and insisted that passport applicants must not be pressured into unofficial payments linked to logistics such as fuel or stationery, stressing that the government’s charges already covered the service being provided. “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,” the minister said.
He also expressed dissatisfaction that only a small number of people had been attended to well into the morning, even though the section was meant to help speed up processing. “So it means that by 09:30 in the morning, 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.
Questioning the pace of enrolment and biometric capturing, the minister argued that the workflow should not be treated as a slow, step-by-step process when each applicant could be handled in minutes. “How long does it take to do an enrolment? Three minutes. So three times seven, that is twenty-one minutes,” he said.
Officials at the passport office told the minister that although the centre was scheduled to open by 08:00 in the morning, activities did not properly begin until about 09:00 in the morning after the generator was switched on, with an officer adding, “We are supposed to open by eight,” while explaining that power was only put on after applicants arrived.
Tunji-Ojo faulted the practice of enrolling all applicants first before beginning biometric capturing, insisting the two processes should run side by side to reduce waiting time and keep the centre moving. “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 added. “So why must you wait until you enrol everybody before you do capturing?,” the minister said.
Describing the delays as unacceptable, he warned that slow service defeats the purpose of public service delivery and places avoidable pressure on citizens who have jobs, appointments, and travel plans tied to passport timelines. “You are wasting people’s precious time. Time is money. Time is expensive. It is unacceptable,” he said.
The minister also questioned why the VIP and Children section was under-used while other sections remained congested, suggesting that applicants could be redirected to available desks to reduce crowding and improve fairness. “It will not cost you anything if you use this place for them,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo said passport offices under the Nigerian Immigration Service must prioritise efficiency, fairness, and professionalism, while reminding officers that wearing the uniform comes with responsibility to the public. “Nigeria has no VIP. When you wear this uniform, you wear a uniform of sacrifice. You are here to work for the people,” he said.
