The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has announced plans to start issuing the new enhanced 10-year e-Passport to eligible applicants at its Ikoyi office in Lagos. According to the NIS Comptroller-General, Muhammad Babandede, the roll-out has already commenced in Abuja, but issuance of the new passport will begin on Tuesday (today), June 25.
The NIS on April 29 announced the commencement of registration for the issuance of its new 10-year e-passports to Nigerians. The e-passport was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 16. The cost of the 32-page five-year standard passport is N25, 000, while the 64-page five-year standard passport costs N35, 000.
The 64-page 10-year standard passport costs N70, 000. The roll-out has already been done in Abuja by President Buhari. “We hope the governor will come on June 25, 2019 and work with the Assistant Comptroller-General here to roll out the new passports in Ikoyi,” the official said. The NIS boss said Lagos is the second place the new enhanced passport is being rolled out.
Mr Babandede said It is mandatory for applicants to first possess a National Identity Number, and also be conscious of their identity on both documents. “We call on Nigerians to be very conscious of their identity. You cannot get this passport unless you have a National Identity number, without that, don’t even approach it.”
He advised Nigerians who have a different identity with their NIN to ‘reconcile’ this before they come. He said the National Identity Card Management Commission (NIMC) has provided facilities which will aid synergy between both government agencies.
“We are happy to say that NIMC has provided for facilities, working with us here in Ikoyi passport office, just like in Abuja and I hope they do same abroad, so that wherever we are rolling out a passport, national identity will be available.
“For all inquiries about the status of pending/ongoing applications in Ikoyi Passport Office, please send text messages to:
“09069000005, 09069000006, 09069000007, 09069000008, 09069000009. Calls are not allowed on these lines. Speaking on strategies to achieving these priorities, Emefiele said the CBN would implement its agenda under various initiatives.
This, he noted, would enable the bank to achieve macroeconomic stability, exchange rate stability, financial system stability, financial inclusion, access to credit, lending to MSMEs, consumer credit and mortgage lending among others.
Macroeconomic stability
In the area of macroeconomic stability, the CBN governor said, “We intend to leverage monetary policy tools in supporting a low inflation environment while seeking to maintain stability in our exchange rate. “As a result, decisions by the Monetary Policy Committee on inflation and interest rates will be dependent on insights generated from data on key economic variables.”
Working with other stakeholders, he said the bank intended to bring down the cost of food items, which had considerable weight in the Consumer Price Index basket. He said, “Our ultimate objective is to anchor the public’s inflation expectation at single digit in the medium to long run. “We believe a low and stable inflationary environment is essential to the growth of our economy because it will help support long term planning by individuals and businesses.
“It will also help to lower interest rates charged by banks to businesses thereby facilitating improved access to credit, and a corresponding growth in output and employment.”
Exchange rate stability: In achieving exchange rate stability, Emefiele said the apex bank would continue to operate a managed float exchange rate regime in order to reduce the impact which continuous volatility in the exchange rate could have on the economy.
He said, “We will support measures that will increase and diversify Nigeria’s exports base and ultimately help in shoring up our reserves. “While the dynamics of global trade continues to evolve in advanced economies, Nigeria remains committed to a free trade regime that is mutually beneficial but particularly aimed at supporting our domestic industries and creating jobs on a mass scale for Nigerians. Premium Times
