The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says the scarcity of international passport booklets in the country is due to the lack of access to foreign currency.
Banks have recently been obliged to take extraordinary measures to fulfill their dollar obligations due to the country’s lack of FX.
Idris Jere, comptroller-general of the NIS, stated during a public hearing held by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday that the books are imported into the nation.
He said that the government’s “foreign exchange regulation policy and CBN’s refusal to grant access to forex for importation of the booklets” were to blame for the shortfall.
“We generate forex from the sale of passports but we do not have access to buy the same booklet and that is a challenge for NIS,” NAN quoted Jere as saying.
“The factors responsible for the scarcity of passports include the inability to set up passport-producing factories in Nigeria as its production is done abroad.
“The major seven components used for producing passports are sold in the international market and the assemblage and production are done in Malaysia.”
