Japa? 1.7 million passports printed in 2022

The Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, has said the massive exodus of Nigerians out of the county in search of greener pastures is fueling high demands for passports.

Aregbesola added that in 2022, the Immigration Service issued passport booklets totalling 1,899,683, the highest in over seven years.

Fielding questions at the 64th edition of State House briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, Aregbesola said the Ministry of Interior and its agencies scored above 80 per cent in terms of performance.

“By Dec. 31 2022, we produced more than 1.7 million passports.

“In the annals of Nigeria that has not happened before; as I am talking to you, we have more than 200,000 in our store.”

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, at the briefing said 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship in 2022 alone.

Belgore said 150 Nigerians renounced their citizenship between 2006 to 2021.

“In 2022, however, 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship,” he added.