- Safiu Kehinde
Popular Nigerian Investigative Journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, has been notified by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to pick his renewed International passport hours after the journalist exposed how the renewal was delayed for six months.
Soyombo had in a post on his X handle on Tuesday trashed the hype surrounding the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, over his claim that Nigeria can now get their passport renewed within one week with the new digital renewal process introduced by the ministry.
The journalist recounted how had in July 2025 applied for his passport renewal online before visiting the NIS office for capturing.
As against the assurance of timely processing, the status of his passport renewal had since read “passport pending production”.
“In January 2024 when I wrote that “Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo will NEVER be able to revolutionise Nigeria’s messily-corrupt passport application system”, some accused me of prophesying doom.
“But it is now six months since I paid and applied for the renewal of my international passport. Maybe I will get it tomorrow.
“On Thursday July 31, 2025, I paid a sum of N109,700 via the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) payment portal, then proceeded to one of their Lagos offices, to complete further documentation and capture. Meanwhile, the officers first mocked us for kick-starting the registration online.
“I couldn’t complete capturing on that day due to a “network problem” that lasted several hours; I was forced to return to their office the following day for that.
“As I write this, “passport pending production” is the long-running feedback from NIS.
“The irony is that Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo continues to be lauded by the unsuspecting public as one of the best — even the best — ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet. It is already almost five months since Tunji-Ojo announced, in the latest of his many mouthwatering passport efficacy promises, that Nigerians would be able to receive their int’l passports one week after application.
“My opinion of him remains unchanged; he is simply the typical Nigerian politician who has a mastery of gallery play and public sentiment manipulation via the media for personal branding.
“Woe unto you if you rely on media reports to gauge the performance of public officers or, more importantly, the efficiency of public institutions!” Soyombo wrote.
Reacting to the post, the NIS disclosed that the journalist’s passport had since been produced and ready for delivery.
NIS, in a statement issued in his official X handle on Wednesday, maintained that passport applicants have enjoyed the 2-3 weeks passport processing time with millions produced up to date.
The service however admitted to the absence of a production completion notification feature on the its website which it vowed to include in the wake of Soyombo’s feedback on the operation of the website.
It vowed to install a new feature to the passport application tracker, “passport produced” that will notify applicants when their passport is ready for collection.
The statement read; “We refer to the recent publication regarding a passport application specifically by Fisayo Soyombo, that has been pending.
“We wish to clarify that the passport in question has already been produced and is ready for delivery.
“So far, passport applicants have enjoyed the 2-3 weeks passport processing time with millions produced up to date.
“This process has been affected by various factors including incomplete applications, security checks or technical glitches etc, some of which have caused delays which are not uncommon with systems around the world.
“To set the record straight, the passport application portal has produced numerous applications efficiently, with many receiving their passports within the timeframe.
“In fact, over 1.3 million passports were produced in 2025 alone. Just this evening, reports are out that our passport now ranks higher on the Henley Passport Index.
“Hence, a single case of delay cannot ultimately be a true assessment of a reform that has earned public vote, and brought sanity to a crisis we once struggled with.
“We, however, believe that feedback like this is valuable and will help us get better.
“Going forward, we will introduce a new feature to the passport application tracker, “passport produced” that will notify applicants when their passport is ready for collection.”