|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Receipts' shortage stalls issuance of passports
THE nationwide shortage of receipts for international passport is making Nigerians desirous of the travelling document to wait longer before obtaining their passport.
The receipts are printed by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).
According to an immigration source, most passport offices, which are located in state capitals, are no longer issuing the document due to lack of receipts.
The source added that those desperately seeking the passport had to travel to areas where there are official receipts.
Only last week, it was reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its determination to sanitise the ailing state-owned company, appointed one of the deputy directors, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman as the interim chairman of NSPMC.
CBN Governor Charles Soludo was also reported to have travelled to Europe last month to liaise with experts in currency and minting on how best to turn the company around.
The company, which was incorporated in 1963, is supposed to produce bank notes, coins, postage stamps, postal and money order and other security documents.
A source at the Benin passport office explained that for over a month now, no passport has been issued because of the non-availability of the official receipt and the breakdown of the scanning machine.
He said: "The scarcity of receipts is a nationwide problem because of the problems at NSPMC, which is supposed to print the papers. The point is that we don't issue passports without the government receipts."
|
|
||||||||||||
