More than 1,000 legislators and appointees receive diplomatic passports.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has dispensed a whopping 66,929 official and diplomatic passports to public servants since the introduction of electronic passport issuance in January 2007 through August 2023.

Interestingly, 1,091 of these passports were granted to recently elected and designated officials following President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023, as disclosed by Acting Comptroller-General of NIS, Caroline Adepoju, in a conversation with us.

Adepoju noted that the total count of passports, including those to foreign nationals who eventually gained Nigerian citizenship, exceeded 16 million. Currently, more passports are under processing, mainly for new government officials, immigration officers on overseas missions, and some military attachés.

Detailing the numbers, she stated, “Currently, 125 diplomatic passports have been issued to select presidency members, our personnel on foreign duties, and specific military attachés. In contrast, the official count is at 966.”

Recalling the past, she mentioned, “Before 2007, passport issuance was a manual affair. The digital era began on January 1, 2007, and since then, we’ve issued a total of 16,361,966 passports. Of these, 12,470 are diplomatic and 54,459 are official.”

Under her leadership, a staggering 337,756 personalized booklets were dispatched, both domestically and internationally, between May 30 and August 31, 2023.

Adepoju encourages Nigerians to retrieve their applied passports and emphasizes the online application process, cautioning against using agents due to the risks of false data provision.

She also highlighted the e-registration initiative for migrants, registering 300,000 migrants so far. She broke down the figures: 25% (75,000) regular migrants and 75% (225,000) irregular ones, all in a bid to bolster national security.

Offering his insights, Dr. Ogbole Amedu-Ode, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, emphasized the importance of official and diplomatic passports. He remarked that such specialized documents, in accordance with the Vienna Convention, ensure international recognition for bearers, granting them privileges and responsibilities in their line of duty.