At Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has rejected reports of planning the ‘commercialization’ of certain services offered by the agency such as issuing residency permits, by the Ministry of the Interior – its supervising authority.
A statement issued by the NIS and signed by its spokesman, Tony Akuneme, refutes the advertorial by the ministry as published on page three of the Tender Journal January 23, and signed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Shuaibu Belgore.
The ministry responsible for the advertorial did not deny the report.
The background
In a report titled: “Months to expire, Aregbesola set to ‘commercialize’ Nigeria’s residency permit process, another,” and published on February 1, PREMIUM TIMES exposed the ministry’s efforts to license private agents to handle applications for individuals or groups seeking certain. services offered by the ministry or NIS.
The new move by the Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, is against the act of establishing the NIS that gives responsibility for the process of issuing international passports, residency permits, and visas, among others, at the door of the NIS and the inspector general as an accounting officer.
The newspaper also reported that the development is contrary to Mr. Aregbesola’s commitment to eliminate the human interface in the processing of relevant documents such as international passports.
The minister always emphasized the deployment of technology to limit the human interface in the application and acquisition of the relevant agencies under his supervision, although he always advised the applicants not to involve third parties in the application.
Advertorial, which explains the duties of licensed agents and the auction process, entitled: “Selection of Licensing Agents for the Application Process Related to the Issuance of Business Permits, Expatriate Quotas, Establishment of Statutory Marriages, Citizenship/Residence Permits and Requests for Expressions of Interest (EoI) Places of Worship General.”
Interested bidders are requested to submit their applications on or before Tuesday, February 7 (today), and application documents will be opened on the same day as the deadline for submission.
According to the announcement, the task for the successful agent is “to facilitate and obtain approval on behalf of the client for expatriate quota issues, citizenship applications, public place of worship licenses, as well as applications for the formation of statutory marriages. .”
“Agents will be charged with the responsibility of verifying the information provided and ensuring that all requirements are met while ensuring that the clients meet the permit requirements. They must also report their obligations to the Ministry,” he added.
NIS reaction
But in its response, a copy of which was shared with PREMIUM TIMES, the NIS said the report was aimed at “damaging the person and the office of the honorable minister,” and “they tend to blame the general public.”
The statement quoted the Codsar General, Isah Idris, as saying that “NIS facilities were concessioned long before Aregbesola became minister.” He also noted that: “Already, many NIS services have long been commercialized and kept in very strong partnerships with internationally recognized professional service providers such as CONTEC, Newworks, IRIS, Greater Washington, OIS, and others.”
The agency also gave a bold denial, saying: “The Minister of Home Affairs does not grant the concession of the Residency permit process but the process of issuing the Expatriate Quota which is directly under the mandate. The advertisement is a reference to the concession of the Expatriate quota and NOT the immigration facility. This is the essence of the matter and must be properly understood.
The statement said the minister to introduce good innovations that helped the agency win many awards and recognition and reminded the public not to swallow the report hook, line, and sinker.
Contradiction
As shown in the PREMIUM TIMES report, no ministry or minister has been accused of concessioning the services provided by the agency, but the report clearly shows that the Minister plans to “commercialize” the process of accessing the service.
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For example, when the NIS refuses to commercialize the process of obtaining a residency permit, this is clear in the advertorial issued by the ministry that lists the residency permit as one of the services that can be processed through the agency to be licensed.
Also, the media assistant to the minister, Sola Fasure, did not deny the development when contacted but only confirmed that the initiative was aimed at improving efficiency.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the NIS spokesperson, Mr. Akuneme, denied knowledge of the advertorial and requested a copy from the journalist, although he promised to return it but never did.
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