By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
Hundreds of commissioners and ministers that have served since the returned of democracy in 1999 are yet to return their diplomatic passports in their possession to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Blueprint has learnt.
It was gathered that the successive governments had left the ex-officials at all levels holding on to the government property without proper regulations.
A senior staff of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS), who pleaded anonymity, revealed that a large numbers of government official who had served since 1999 were yet to return their passports.
President Muhammadu Buhari, through a statement by the Ministry of Interior, early last month directed former public office holders to immediately surrender official and diplomatic passports issued to them while they were in office to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The categories of officials holding to the passport from 1999 till date included former governors, former ministers, former senators, former members of the House of Representatives, and former members of Houses of Assembly.
Others are former commissioners, for special advisers/special assistants, former chairmen/deputy chairmen of local government areas, all retired heads of parastatal and retired public servants.
Comptroller-General of NIS, Martin Abeshi, recently threatened to publish names of government officials and politicians illegally holding on to Nigeria’s diplomatic passports despite requests for them to return them.
He said so far only 200 former government officials had returned their diplomatic passports despite a directive by the federal government to them to return the documents.
The NIS boss told journalists that: “I want to use this time to re-emphasise that the collection of diplomatic passports from government official who are no more in the service has been encouraging.
“We have collected over 200 so far, but very soon we will publish the names of defaulters.
But I am appealing to them to please bring them before we publish their names.”
When contacted yesterday, the Service’s spokesman, Epedeme King, confirmed that a large number of illegal diplomatic passport holders had held on to it since 1999.
