Updated: Ministry of Interior Mid Tenure/2025 Sectoral Performance Retreat: Tinubu SA Commends Tunji-Ojo’s Commitment to Excellence
…as Interior Minister Assures of Stamping out Corruption in Passport Issuance
By Raphael Ekpang
Suleja (Core Reporters) The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy and coordination and head central result delivery coordination unit (CRDCU) Hadiza Bala Usman has commended the Interior Minister Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo for his commitment to excellence.
She gave the commendation on Thursday in Suleja, Niger state during the opening ceremony of a 3-day mid tenure/2025 sectorial performance retreat of the ministry and its agencies.
Hadiza said, from the day one Tunji-Ojo was appointed the minister of Interior, she knew he was going to succeed, noting that the radical transformation going on in the ministry and its agencies is a testament of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu quest for a complete transformation of all sectors of our economy.
She said, Tunji-Ojo achievement at the ministry is really reflecting on the Renewed Hope Agenda of president Tinubu. Meanwhile she charges the interior minister to continue with his good work
However, she called for an end to the widespread abuse of police protection by a few previlleged Nigerians noting that elite misuse of security resources is undermining Nigeria’s national security. Emphasising the urgent need to amend existing laws to allow private security firms take over very important personalities (VIP) protection duties. Asding that it will would free overstretched security personnel to focus on their constitutional role of safeguarding national security.
We must free our security agencies to do what they need to do. So that Act needs to be amended, I’ve put it among the deliverables that we need to track, because VIP protection is a lot of garment of security deployment that really should not be done by our security personnel. We must free them for them to do national security as required.” She said
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo in his opening remarks at the opening ceremony of the 3-day performance retreat of the ministry said as part of his strategies to wipe out corruprion in the issuance of passports reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that passports are delivered within one week of enrolment, in line with ongoing sweeping reforms in the issuance process.
“Our target is very clear: within one week of enrolment, every Nigerian should have their passport in hand. Not just delivering quickly, but delivering quality passports that reflect our integrity as a nation,” the minister stated.
He explained that the new system was designed to eliminate delays and extortion, which once forced citizens to wait up to six or seven months or pay as much as ₦200,000 to fast-track processing.
“The system we inherited had a six-month backlog, which we cleared in two and a half weeks. Nigerians were waiting endlessly for passports or paying hundreds of thousands of naira. Even my own daughter went through that experience. At just 12 years old, I had to pay hundreds of thousands to secure her
.The retreat with the theme: “FROM PLANS TO RESULTS: STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR” featured the Secretary, Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Service Board (CDCFIB) Major Gen. Abdulmalik Jibril; Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Manna Naddap; Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Audi.
Others are: Controller General Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Syvester Nwakuche; Controller General Federal Fire Service (FFS), Samuel Olumode and the Director General of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote.
The 3-day event is loaded with activities including exercise to keep participants’ feet mentally, physically and otherwise.
