TheCable

Mohammed Babandede, comptroller-general, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), says the issuance of Nigerian passport with 10 years validity will commence in December 2018.

Babandede made the disclosure when he visited governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state on Monday in Ibadan.

He explained that the new passport would have features that could stand the test of time, adding that it would run concurrently with the old ones.

“We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the new passport with 10 years validity,” he said.

“We have also repositioned and improved on our services as directed by the president.”

Babandede said NIS had also improved accessibility to visa through the introduction of Visa-on-Arrival for immigrants whose country was without an embassy.

He said: “We have initiated the centralization of Temporary Work Permit for immigrants who are in the country for a temporary assignment as well as made it easy for women to do change of name across the states.

“We have also introduced forward-front-border patrol to curtail activities of smugglers and criminals within the border areas.

“We will continue to ensure adequate security of the border and country at large.”