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97,000 Passports Uncollected Nationwide – Immigration Service
Published
10 months agoon
By
EditorThe Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says about 97,000 passport booklets issued were uncollected in the 36 states nationwide including Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Service Public Relations Officer, (SPRO) Comptroller of Immigration, Mr Tony Akuneme said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Akuneme said that the service recently found out that Lagos State had half of the uncollected passports.
He said that there was also a danger that half of the owners of the uncollected passports could not be reached due to lack of proper documentation because of a third party involvement.
READ ALSO: DSS Seizes Emefiele’s Passport, Plans Home, Office Search
He also said that the essence of state of emergency declaration was to draw attention of the media so they could deepened the process for the service as alot of people do not know if their passport were ready for collection.
“Some of them engaged agents to help them in their passport processing and these agents might be doing for alot of persons.
“They end up dropping wrong contacts and thereby making it difficult to reach out to the owners of these passports when they are ready for collection. This is a big challenge, “he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Acting Comptroller General, NIS, Mrs Caroline Adepoju had recently declared state of emergency on passport issues across the country.
READ ALSO: Passport Racketeering: 80 Officers On Trial, Eight Dismissed, Says NIS
The SPRO said that the service recently found out that most applicants complains also bothers on some human factor and technical factor which included slow speed of Internet.
According to him, the CG didn’t want to leave anyone in doubt as to the issue of passport processing being her core area of interest.
“That’s how she came about that term of declaring state of emergency in the passport issues.
“When the acting CG assumed office, she made it very clear that she was going to focus on Passport reforms and staff welfare, “he said.
According to him, the Lagos state Governor is willing to collaborate with the CG in terms of expanding the Passport services on Lagos State.
READ ALSO: Why Passport Booklets Are Scarce — NIS
“So, we went to Lagos State Governor to help in terms of giving us office space where we can set up front desk offices and immediately, the governor was very positive in his response
” Lagos is a tourism place and immigration have a key role to play in the mind of anybody visiting the state.
“So it was a welcome development and you can see that the state of emergency that was declared is already yielding fruits as the governor accepted CGs request on land allocation to build staff quarters in Lagos, “he said.
Akuneme said that the service however, needed the Media to tell Nigerians that people should not think there were no passport booklets.
He said “there are booklets issued that are not collected. It is ironical, we don’t have problem of booklet, we don’t have shortage of booklets.
“What we have had in the last one or two years is a sudden upsurge in the number of Nigerians wanting to travel . We felt it was also related to COVID-19, “he said.
Akuneme assured that the result would be instant as more facilities were going to be put in place to curtail any challenges of passport issuance across the country.
(NAN)
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News
Residents Displaced As Rainstorms Wreck Havoc In Edo Community
Published
1 hour agoon
April 27, 2024By
EditorLampese community in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State has been ravaged by rainstorms.
The incident was said to have occurred Friday as a result of a heavy downpour which affected many houses including the electricity transformer.
An eyewitness account described the incident as very unfortunate following the level of devastation.
Residents of the community have therefore called on the state and local governments and all concerned authorities to come to their rescue with a view to proffering urgent solutions and resettling displaced residents.
READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Properties Worth Millions Destroyed As Fire Razes Shops In Benin
Reacting to the situation, the local government council chairman, Tajudeen Suleman, who said he was far away in Enugu State for an official engagement, disclosed that he has mobilised the council officials to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment immediately he got the news, promising to visit victims as soon as he returns today.
He also said he was in touch with the state deputy governor, Marvellous Omobayo and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on moves to fast track the process of resettling affected persons.
News
Lawyer Drags NERC, AGF, Minister Of Power To Court Over Electricity Tariff Hike
Published
1 hour agoon
April 27, 2024By
EditorA Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Joe Agi, has taken legal action against the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Abuja Electricity Distribution (AEDC) for allegedly raising his electricity tariff by 230 per cent.
The case is currently being heard by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Agi is seeking the protection of his fundamental rights.
In his application, the senior lawyer asks the court to declare that the new tariffs and the hours of supply violate the Electricity Act of 2023 and Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution.
The applications list NERC, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu; the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, and AEDC as the first to fourth respondents, respectively.
READ ALSO: Customer Drags NERC, AGF To Court Over Electricity Tariff Hike, Classification
In the attached affidavit submitted with the lawsuit, the attorney stated that he purchased 682kwh of utility from the AEDC on both March 23 and April 3, for a total of N50,000.
Furthermore, Agi declared that on April 6, he made another N50,000 utility purchase, but this time the value of the purchase was reduced to 206.7kwh.
He expressed his concern regarding this unexpected change but later discovered that the NERC and AEDC had implemented a system known as “bands” in the country. Under this system, NERC issued the April 2024 Supplementary Order to the Multi-Year Tariff Order 2024.
“That from the tariffs shared, the 1st and 4th respondents (NERC and AEDC) increased my tariffs by 230%, whereas others had theirs increased by 236%,177% and some others 0% in Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Electricity Workers Fault Tariff Hike, Threaten Strike
“The tariffs are discriminatory and the hours of supply are discriminatory between consumers and consumer categories and should be cancelled,” the SAN prayed the court.
Agi criticized the statement made by NERC’s chairman, Musiliu Oseni, on April 1st, where he stated that “only 15% of the electricity consumers in the country who consume 40% of the nation’s electricity are the ones affected.”
In Agi’s view, this directive creates a distinction between the 15% and the remaining 85% of consumers in Nigeria, which he considers discriminatory.
He argued that the use of US Dollars to determine tariffs in Nigeria is unnecessary and goes against public policy.
READ ALSO: Edo Guber: ‘Which Campaign Council’, Orbih Fumes, Rejects Inclusion
Consequently, the applicant requested “a declaration that the NERC Supplementary Order to the MYTO 2024 is discriminatory, unconstitutional, and a clear violation of the applicant’s right to freedom from discrimination as guaranteed under Section 116 (2) (e) of the Electricity Act, 2023, and Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended).”
He also stated that it violates the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Vol. 1LEN 2004.
Agi also requested the court to declare that the use of the United States of American dollar exchange rate to determine the cost of tariffs in Nigeria is illegal, unconstitutional, and against public policy. Additionally, he sought an order to invalidate the NERC Supplementary Order to the MYTO 2024, as it is discriminatory and a clear violation of his right to freedom from discrimination as protected by the law.
However, no hearing date has been scheduled for this matter.
Recall that on April 3, NERC increased the electricity tariff for customers in the Band A category, who receive 20 hours of power supply daily, from N66/kWh to N225/kWh.
Panic gripped residents of Ita-Oshin area of Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, when a gas tanker explosion left a trail of devastation, claiming four lives and about six vehicles were burnt.
It gathered that the explosion, occurred following an accident involving the gas tanker, when it was trying to manoeuvre along the road railings.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Four Feared Killed As Tanker Explosion Rocks Rivers
It was further gathered that emergency response teams, including personnel from the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State Fire Service swiftly mobilized to the scene to evacuate the remains of the victims and contain the inferno.
Among the vehicles consumed by the inferno were taxis, a private car, and a truck, with the impact extending to nearby shops and houses.
While security and safety officials present at the scene are yet to provide a comprehensive statement regarding the incident, eyewitnesses, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said some casualties had already been rushed to the hospital by the response teams.
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