A Civil Society Organisation, Corruption Must Not Kill Democracy (COMUNOKID) on Friday threatened to occupy the Ministry of Interior should the Minister Mr. Bunmi Tunji – Ojo fails to make known his findings on the embarrassing demonstration that occured at the Nigeria High Commission in London on 31 July 2024.
In a Press conference addressed by its Chairman Mr. Kolapo Ogundare and Secretary Mazi Christopher Eze in Abuja COMUNOKID said the minister was deliberately buying time to sweep the incident under the carpet.
Some Nigerians demonstrated over deliberate delay in giving them dates to come for capturing of the renewal of their passports, deliberate hike in price of the passport from $150 to $318 by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and deliberately giving applicants between six (6) to eight(8) months before they could be considered for capturing and subsequent issuance of the passport.
Specifically, allegation of graft was leveled against the Immigration Attache, a Deputy Comptroller of Immigration -Mr. Bashir Aminu who heads the London office of Nigeria High Commission.
Mr. Aminu was alleged to be delaying issuance of Nigerian passport to qualified Nigerians in London and its environs thereby causing artificial scarcity of Nigerian passport and demanding for $318 for express production of the passport.
The NIS had on 7 August,2024 seven days after the embarrassing protest, issued a statement disclaiming the arbitrary hike and deliberate creation of bottle-neck by some officials of the London office.
In a press release by Nigeria Immigration Service dated 07 August, 2024; ” The Nigeria Immigration Service hereby debunks the derogatory news report as false, unfounded and so should be disregarded in its entirety. The NIS is using this opportunity to state categorically for the umpteenth time that the authorized fee for the procurement of Nigeria international passport in the United Kingdom is $150 for a five (5) year validity period and $230 for a ten-year validity period passport not inclusive of bank charges.”
“The above press release buttressed the fact that the London immigration attache, Bashir Aminu, acted unilaterally without consultation with immigration authority in Nigeria by charging $300 for express charges and additional $18 for processing fees amounting to $318 exclusive of bank charges. Aminu has forced Nigerians in London who can’t pay so much to wait for 6 to 7 months to just book appointment with the embassy not to talk about the waiting period after getting biometrics done”, Mr Ogundare stressed.
Though, accusing finger was pointed at the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, of complicity by the protesters; he condemned the act by the officer and promised the aggrieved protesters that proper investigation of the incidence would be conducted according to public service rule and the report made public.
According to Ogundare: “Weeks after the alleged London serious misconduct of corruption by DCI Bashir Aminu, the Immigration Service has kept mum and the Interior Minister is still investigating. Pieces of evidence on the bogus amount collected for passport acquisition and production are all in the public domain”.
It would be recalled that during the decoration of the newly-promoted Deputy Comptrollers-General (DCGs) of Immigration on 07 August , 2024; the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo charged the newly-decorated paramilitary officers under his ministry to be more proactive in discharging their duties and endeavour to save the image of the country at all times.
Based on the Minister’s charge, a trending video of an Immigration Officer, Okpravero C. Ufuoma, soliciting appreciation after clearance of an expatriate at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos caught the attention of Immigration Service and within 24 hours of seeing the disturbing video; action was taken *and made public to recall the officer, an Assistant Superintendent of Immigration II (ASI 2) from the Airport and his subsequent suspension for misconduct.
The prompt disciplinary action seems to portray NIS and the supervising ministry of having zero tolerance for act of misconduct in the Service, according to public service rule PSR 030301.
But according to public service rule (PSR); section 4, PSR 030401, the illegal fees being allegedly charged by Mr. Aminu constitute serious misconduct in the service.
“It is obvious that senior officers who enjoy management backup can engage in serious misconduct or corrupt acts without its attendant consequences while the junior officers without anyone to speak for them are usually the ones to be dealt with and made scapegoats” he said. What a double standard !