Less than three days after its inauguration, the passport office in Oyo town has started attending to eager members of the public.
This has made the hitherto quiet community of the Government Reservation Area where the office is located to burst alive with with various economic activities, particularly human and vehicular movement.
Some callers at the office include those within the area and others from outside Oyo state.
Meanwhile, Following the inauguration of another international passport office in Oyo state, minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has revealed plan to move five thousand out of the fourteen thousand applications in Ibadan to the new Oyo office for processing in an effort to minimize delay.
The Minister who debunked a cry of shortage of international passport booklets explained that at least two hundred and fifty thousand booklets are always kept in reserve, saying any cry of extortion from anyone should be taken as excuse for extortion.
Aregbesola said 1.9 million passport were processed in 2022, which was a significant effort in clearing the backlog caused by covid-19 pandemic.
Recalling President Muhammadu Buhari’s mandate on the essence of citizenship integrity, the minister cautioned officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service against any act capable of bringing the service to disrepute.
Special Adviser to Oyo state governor on migration and homeland security, ACG retired Segun Adegoke commended the initiative to open a new passport office in Oyo town to ease increasing demand.
In another commendation, Oyo Metropolitan Development Association chairman, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu said the passport office would certainly boost socioeconomic growth of the community, apart from bringing the service closer to his people.
Archbishop Ladigbolu reiterated the community’s commitment towards effective running of the facility.
