The Acting Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Wuraola Adepoju, speaks with STEPHEN ANGBULU on border security amid the Niger embargo, its challenges with passport issuance reforms and why Nigerians should shun third party routes to obtaining passports
You were appointed the Acting Comptroller-General of the NIS about three months ago, how interesting or tough has the journey been?
I was appointed the Acting Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service on May 30, 2023. I have always taken pride in saying that I’m the first appointee of this government (laughs). I would say the journey has been interesting. What I have been able to accomplish on this is due to the support I enjoy from my immediate subordinates and every other person in the service. I have also enjoyed the support of the government and our personnel. It has afforded me the opportunity to see the service from the top. It has given me a bird’s-eye view of the service.
When you assumed office, you promised to prioritise the well-being of your personnel, and a few weeks after that pronouncement about 7,000 personnel were promoted. Aside from this, what are you doing to improve their welfare and make the service better?
There is an ongoing training of our cadets. When you talk of morale, not only does training boost the morale of officers, it improves their service delivery and enhances their confidence. There is an ongoing training at our training school in Kano; we are training about 600 cadets there. Also, we have been able to purchase buses which we have deployed with the support of the good people of Nigeria, like Chief Arthur Eze and Access Bank, who supported us with buses. Also, the cooperative society bought five 18-seater buses and we deployed about six buses that ply the major routes in Abuja. For housing, the BUA foundation gave us an award of about N500m. That was there before I came on board, but I have asked that the money should be used for the construction of residential accommodation for junior officers. Very soon, the construction will commence, because essentially, accommodation, transportation and staff development are very crucial and germane to the welfare of our personnel. Also, the issue of payment of their allowances; I’m making consultations on how to get the funds to pay pending transfer allowances, but as for repatriation allowances, death benefits and others like that, we pay immediately because there is always fund for that.
How do you intend to raise the funds for the pending allowances, since the money you raise from passport issuance goes into the federal purse?
Yes, apart from the internally generated revenue, which we have a share in, our technical partners who assist us in the provision of some of these services also have their share. Sometimes we get interventions, which we plan to explore to enable us to take care of this very important aspect.
The NIS is seen as a lucrative establishment and one can assume that being the comptroller general must have put you under recruitment pressure from some influential persons. How do you manage such pressure and still follow due process in hiring qualified personnel?
Several measures are put in place to assist in recruiting the very best. In Nigeria, we know that unemployment is an issue. So many people applied, but we are guided by some selection criteria, like height, health status and others. Also, before you can be recruited into the Nigerian Immigration Service, we examine your history to be sure that you don’t have criminal records. As much as possible, we also try to comply with the Federal Character Commission’s requirements. All these are helping us to be balanced in our selection process.
Is there any form of pressure?
Naturally! Not necessarily from the big people but from all over. Many people applied, and the number of applications we have now is more than what we can accommodate. We have over a million applications, whereas we just have about 3,000 slots. But as much as possible, there are measures and guidelines that will assist us in streamlining the selection process.
It’s been two months since you declared a state of emergency on passport issuance to address the bottlenecks, do you think this has yielded favourable outcomes, because many Nigerians still complain of delays?
Declaring a state of emergency on passports on assumption of duty was to put everybody on their toes; I mean our service providers, technical partners as well as the Nigerian Immigration officers who work in the passport offices. First, we have increased the number of booklets that are being supplied. Two, you will notice that there was a review in the leadership of our passport offices. I have directed that our passport control officers will be deputy controllers; people who have higher ranks, and they have been entrusted with higher responsibilities. I have also directed that most passport offices should reduce their staff strength so as to reduce the chances of exploitation. When there are too many people, you don’t even know where you are going. And we have continued to sensitise the public to the need to make use of the online application process. We have also increased the number of passport processing centers by an additional four. One each will be coming up at Igbogbo (Lagos), Offa (Kwara), Kaduna (Kaduna) and Ikorodu (Lagos). Everybody has been on their toes.
How many passports have been issued since you assumed office?
As for the number of passports that have been issued from May 30, 2023, till today, we have issued, both home and abroad, 337,756 personalised booklets. There was a newspaper advert shortly after declaring the state of emergency on the passports that were produced but were yet to be collected. Also, a number of people showed up to collect their passports. We are still calling on Nigerians who applied for passports to go and collect their passports. I have the list of all uncollected passports and they are over 7,000. So, I want to tell you that our interventions have yielded results. Very soon, Nigerians will see more improvements. I have put everyone on their toes. I have often stated that we are running a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. We have put measures in place; feedback processes, that if anyone feels they have been exploited or anyone is trying to exploit them, they should contact us and we will ensure we do proper investigation and errant officers will be dealt with.
You said earlier that you reduced the staff strength in some passport offices to ease passport processing, could you expatiate on that?
Yes, we redeployed them to other departments so the crowd of personnel there will be reduced. And we want to know who is there. When the number is so many, it is difficult to really monitor them. Also, as a fallout of that state of emergency that we declared, I have done a memo which has been approved on the review of passports renewal process. I’m working with my team to see how this can be implemented to ensure that Nigerians enjoy the reforms.
Weeks ago, you met President Bola Tinubu at the State House, how did your meeting go?
It was fulfilling and it afforded me the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the President. We discussed a few things and the highlight was moving the service forward, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is supported by our statutory responsibilities. The security of the nation is germane to its socioeconomic development and don’t forget that a safe border is a safe nation. The Nigerian Immigration Service in its role to support the present administration will ensure that our borders are well secured.
Were there specific commitments from the President to the NIS?
He said he is available. He has aides and the minister in charge of our ministry. These are competent hands. Before the appointment of the new Minister of Interior (Dr Bunmi Tunji-Ojo), the permanent secretary, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, had been up and doing and there was no lacuna.
The service recently blamed agents for over 97,000 uncollected passports nationwide, but it is known that agents have become an integral part of the passport issuance value chain. Do you plan to collaborate with them or minimise their influence?
We don’t need agents. It is Illegal to call yourself a passport agent as far as we are concerned in the NIS. There is no such role. Nigerians are expected to apply for their passport online, anyone can do it. You can use your phone or any electronic device to apply for your passport online. The Nigeria Immigration Service does not recognise any agent, but many people try to act as the middlemen between us and the applicants. We don’t need them. The danger is this, when they apply on behalf of people, they use all sorts of fictitious addresses and telephone numbers, that even if we have observations or complaints or if there are things that the applicants need to correct on their forms, we cannot easily access them. When these passports are produced and we call them, we discover that it is a wrong number.
What are you doing about that?
I have said that the passport offices are security zones. I have also directed passport control officers to get rid of touts and I will be paying unscheduled visits to the passport offices. Anywhere I find touts operating, the passport control officer will be sanctioned.
In Osogbo, your men reportedly clashed with operatives of Amotekun sometime in July. Inter-agency conflict like this is not new and the NIS is hardly in the news for such. What could you tell us about the incidents and the steps you have taken to avoid a recurrence?
The Osogbo incident was quite unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that a minor skirmish between two people almost degenerated into an inter-agency conflict. It was as a result of an accident. One of our personnel was involved in a car accident that affected an Amotekun vehicle. Instead of doing things the proper way, they took laws into their hands. I wasn’t there, but the state controller was able to manage the situation in consonance with the commandant of Amotekun in Osun State, and they were able to manage the situation. And of course, I expect that in the future people will be more disciplined and civilised in their approach.
You were recently on a border inspection duty in Sokoto, where you visited your personnel, especially those injured during a face-off with gunmen. You also assured them that the service was working to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice. What is the update on this?
The safety of our personnel is top priority for me. Interestingly, the unfortunate incident strengthened inter-agency collaboration. I went there battle ready but luckily for the bandits, they did not appear that day. We are always battle ready and we will crush them. Be that as it may, we are still on guard. The only thing is that we require more collaboration with our sister agencies in intelligence sharing, and we plan to deploy more technology-based border management tools to enable us to forestall such unfortunate incidents. This will enable us to provide a secure environment for our officers to carry out their duties effectively.
What kind of technology tools?
Well, I cannot disclose our security details, but we are building our arsenals. And we will be more effective in the near future.
Last May, we learnt that 80 officers and men were on trial for collecting illegal fees for passport issuance, what is the status of the disciplinary process?
I have made it very clear that we have zero tolerance for corruption. At the moment, we have begun disciplinary processes. However, no matter the situation, we respect the rights of the individuals involved and we have extant laws in this regard so that when we take action, we do so based on genuine information and thorough investigation. We have disciplinary committees that try errant officers, and their recommendations will be passed to the board. Whoever is found wanting will face the consequences. We don’t shy away from enforcing discipline and we mete out appropriate sanctions to errant personnel. We protect the public. So, since the process is ongoing, it will be preposterous to say anything definite about it.
Given that new leaders and appointees have emerged after the May 29 inauguration, how many diplomatic and official passports have you issued to the new leaders like governors, senators, House of Representatives members, presidential aides, etc.?
For diplomatic passports, which are issued to diplomats, we have 125 issued now. This includes some officials in the presidency, our personnel on diplomatic missions and some military attaché. So far, we have issued 125 diplomatic passports and official that amounts to 966 passports.
Could you share with us how many have been issued in the current democratic dispensation that started in 1999?
Prior to 2007, passports were issued manually. The electronic passports came into being on January 1, 2007. So, till date, I can tell you that the total number of passports that have been issued is 16,361,966. That is the total of all the passports that have been issued. As for the diplomatic passports, we have 12,470 issued since 2007. As for the official, we have issued 54,459 passports.
The NIS once lamented in the past that government officials hardly return such passports after leaving office, what is the situation of things now?
First and foremost, you see, most political office holders have tenure of four years. The passport validity issued to them is five years. By the time they are leaving the office, the passport is almost expiring. And then there is something that we have devised; we don’t issue passports to their replacements until the previous office holders return theirs. On my dashboard, I have the records of all passports that are valid that are outside. If I don’t want you to use a particular passport, I can deactivate it from my office here. So, it’s not a problem at all. Now, most Nigerian office holders return their passports when they leave office. The situation has improved over the years. We have seen increased compliance. But for those who don’t, for example, you are a diplomatic passport holder and you want to, maybe, renew your official passport if you are in another capacity or your green passports, I will have the information but I may not do what you want, except you comply with the extant rules. So it’s not a problem. Like I told you, we have issued 966 official passports and 125 diplomatic passports. This accounts for almost the same number of the people that have returned theirs. Their replacements are not issued with new ones.
In 2019, the service began an e-registration exercise for migrants, how many persons have been registered so far?
We have about 300,000 migrants that have been electronically registered on that system. About 25 per cent of them are regular migrants, while 75 per cent are irregular migrants. The exercise is ongoing as part of our efforts to enhance national security and regulate the presence of migrants in the country.
Towards the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said some outgoing governors and some other government officials were on its watch list due to ongoing investigations on their activities while in office. We learnt it was to send a list to the NIS barring them from traveling out of the country, have you received any such list?
I must stress that we respect the confidentiality and sensitivity of ongoing investigations by other government agencies such as the EFCC. Even If I do, I cannot reveal it to you. Such documents are classified, so I will not make any comment on that. However, I can assure you that we collaborate closely with the relevant agencies to ensure our borders are secure and that individuals are subjected to legal restrictions so as not to evade travel regulations.
Analysts blame all border agencies, including immigration, for the illegal importation and proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Last July, some were intercepted while coming from Mali through the Idiroko border. Why is it so difficult to detect the movement of arms slipping through the borders?
You will agree with me that since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, sub-Saharan Africa has been inundated with small arms and light weapons. The issue of illegal arms importation and proliferation is a serious concern to us. We acknowledge the need for enhanced border security measures. Although that is not within the purview of our responsibilities, in the light of interagency collaboration, you see, it is important that we deploy more sophisticated detection devices at all borders. So, they are in their numbers. But we are doing everything we can to ensure that such have reduced the importation of arms and its proliferation. It is the collective responsibility of every one of us and the border agencies. We need equipment. We need logistics to enable us to detect these things. Some people would have loads of other goods that you will consider innocuous. Meanwhile, beneath those things they have piled arms. So, I think the customs have the devices to detect these weapons no matter where they are hidden. They may need more to be deployed in our borders.
Your visit to Sokoto was to ensure compliance with the ECOWAS’ directive to shut all land borders with Niger, do you think building a wall could have eased this?
Border security is of utmost importance and our approach should be multifaceted. While border walls have been effective in some contexts, the situation in Nigeria requires a comprehensive strategy that includes technology, intelligence-sharing, well-trained personnel and diplomatic efforts. But to build walls? No, we don’t build walls. We build bridges. Migration is an integral part of socioeconomic development in any society. What we do is to prevent bad people from coming into the country. Migration is an agent of technology transfer. No nation is an island. Besides, Nigeria is the big brother in Africa. We are one large family with all the countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria is a key player in the development of Africa. We can’t completely shut our borders. You know that Nigerian borders are contiguous. What that means is that we share common cultural heritage with the people on the other side. So, what we do is to ensure that we prevent the bad people from coming in. We cannot stop people from migrating. When you migrate, you can transfer technology and skill. Migration is part and parcel of mankind. It is inherent in humans to do that. So, we don’t build walls, we build bridges but we prevent the bad guys from coming in.
What legacy do you want to leave behind in the NIS?
I want to be reckoned as the people’s CG; the comptroller-general that you can feel and touch. Therefore, the welfare of our personnel is very paramount to me. I want my personnel to know that no matter the size of the office, it has a human face. I want to be humane. I want to be remembered as a friend as well as a leader who stood for discipline and doing the right things. That is one. I aspire to leave a legacy characterised by increased professionalism, transparency and efficiency in the NIS. I want an improved service delivery in both border security and migration management, including the issuance of passports. Also, I want improved conditions of service for our border management personnel. I want them to know that a friend and a humane leader paid her dues while she was here. Overall, my plan is service to God and humanity for the rest of my life.
Your officers call you ‘Mama God Bless You’, what prompted that name?
I’m a very religious person; I take my faith and study of my Bible seriously. If you spend good time studying the scripture, you will be inundated with the word of God. I fill my heart with the scripture, so what I say is from the abundance of my heart.
