1,000 e-passports awaiting collection in New York —CG
Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
The Nigerian Consulate in New York has said that over 1,000 e-passports are awaiting collection.
The Consul-General, Benaoyagha Okoyen said the backlogs of passport and visa applications were being cleared in line with government operational guidelines.
Okoyen in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, denied reports of bribe-taking at the consulate, noting that the mission had adopted the highest standard and best practices obtainable in any other consulate as it relates to e-passport and visa production.
He said, "Despite the pressure and challenges of December rush in New York, occasioned by the temporary lack of e-passport booklets in other Missions in USA, no charge of $200 or any other fee is made by applicants for same-day e-passport service.
"The procedure for timely issuance of passport and visa has been simplified and further streamlined and well known to the public. We have also worked hard to ensure that New York Consulate never runs short of e-passport booklets to avoid any disruption in our services."
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Okoyen explained that the consulate has fully keyed into the anti-corruption agenda of the Federal Government and would spare no worker against whom any allegation of unethical practice could be proven.
According to him, the consulate operates an open-door policy and encourages Nigerians to report any misdemeanor on the part of any of its official.
"My telephone numbers and email addresses are well publicised for this purpose. Besides, a special help-desk has been introduced with dedicated phone lines for applicants to contact officials in the consulate on any issue for quick response to inquiries without undue delay.
"Similarly, Thebez Global is the only company that handles bio-metric visa processing on behalf of the consulate in the VFS Centre at 145 West 45 Street, New York," the CG stated.
Okoyen disassociated the consulate from any other third-party service providers or unauthorized agents in accessing services provided by the consulate in New York.
"Consequently, any payment made by applicants to any unauthorized third-party service provider should not be misconstrued or translated to mean payment to the consulate or its officials," the statement noted.
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