Mr Sunday Olubiyi, Passport Control Officer (PCO) of the Ogun State Immigration Command, (NIS), says the process of obtaining an Emergency Travel Certificate (ETC), a product of the NIS, has been streamlined for efficiency.
Olubiyi, who revealed this in an interview on Saturday in Abeokuta, said that the ETC is dedicated for Nigerians living abroad, especially for applicants with expired passport who require single-journey travel certificate to the country.
He said that the Command was already witnessing patronage of international travel passport, despite the hike in cost.
Recall that the Federal Government had, with effect from Sept. 1, approved the review of the cost of procurement of the document.
Based on the review, a 32-page passport booklet with five-year validity previously N35,000 is now N50,000 only and a 64-page booklet with 10-year validity formally N70,000 is now N100,000, he said.
Olubiyi said that in spite of the upward review of the costs, applicants were still attracted to the Command as the yelutide approaches.
“The surge of applicants is traceable to Nigerians outside the country visiting home for vacation,” he said.
However, he revealed that when Kemi Nandap, Comptroller-General of Immigration Service (CGIS), visited the command recently, the prices were deliberated, he added.
An emerging musician, Slim Kpoco, urged the Federal government to provide a special window of passport application for celebrities .
Kpoko, however, was of the view that three weeks to access new passport is uncomfortable for applicants.