The federal government intends to produce at least 24,000 passports every day in order to eliminate the delays that residents face in acquiring their passports.
The production would begin as soon as the 200,000 passport backlogs were eliminated.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, said this in Abuja on Friday during a visit by a group from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes.
According to Ajibola Afonja, the Ministry’s Director of Press, approximately 97,000 of the 200,000 backlogs of passports had been cleared.
The statement partly read, “The Minister averred that the President is interested in the country’s development; therefore, there would be no room for duplication of responsibility by the agency and the ministry.
“He further cited an example of the ongoing reforms in the NIS for passport issuance; he confirmed that “as of this morning (Friday), about 97,000 passports have been cleared, and he assured Nigerians that 24,000 passports would be produced in a day when the backlogs are cleared”.
The Minister requested UNODC’s assistance in providing skills acquisition to inmates in Nigerian correctional facilities, emphasising that the agency’s initiatives would not be politicised.
“Tunji-Ojo said correctional facilities should be centres of reformation for inmates, as indicated by the nomenclature of the facilities. He said the custodial facilities should not be seen as condemnation centres.
“The Minister made the passionate appeal and implored the United Nations Agency to always collaborate with the Ministry by engaging it for any interventions across the services of the Ministry in order to avoid duplications, which often breed corruption.
“He further allayed the fear of UNODC functionaries in Nigeria that their intervention would not be politicized. Hon. Tunji-Ojo assured the team that he is not one of such politicians, adding that he is not just a politician but a technopolitician.
“He assured the visiting UNODC team that as long as he remains the Minister in the Ministry of Interior, their intervention would surely be implemented with the objectives of the projects.
“The Minister also solicited the support of the organisation for advocacy and reorientation of Nigerians’ minds about inmates after serving their jail term.
“He pleaded for the expansion of the collaboration to cover the six geopolitical zones in the country.”
Earlier in the visit, Mr. Oliver Stolpe, the UNODC team leader, stated that they were at the ministry to see the areas of collaboration, and he also listed areas in which the body has intervened.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
