Criticisms trail issuance of Nigerian ECOWAS passport

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Many Nigerians living abroad, who are yet to obtain the new ECOWAS
passport popularly known as e-passport, should prepare for serious hiccups
and hitches ahead.

A Nigerian, who simply wants to be

identified as Michael and has just obtained

the epassport told African Examiner that

the online payment procedure was “very

very awkward” because after you’ve filled out

all your bio-data and other personal

information and ready to make payment “you’

ll then be told that debit and credit cards are

no more accepted, at that point you’re

asked to go and buy a $65 US post office

money order and key in its control number

where you would have put the credit card

number”

After that, he continued “you’ll have to mail the money order to a payment
center in Connecticut and wait until they receive it and get back to you via
email, perhaps in another three to four days, before proceeding to consulates
of your choice-Atlanta, New York or Washington, DC.”

Sadly, the website falsely listed Washington, DC as one of the centers issuing
the passport whereas only the Atlanta and New York consulates are issuing it.

A lot people have selected the Washington, DC as their choice of obtaining the
passport only to travel there and be told, sometimes in unfriendly terms, that
they have to go New York or Atlanta.

“They don’t even tell you when making payments online that Washington, DC
is not issuing the passport, only to travel down with your family and find out
that you have to again go to New York or Atlanta. It is not even automatic; you
have to get an appointment date before you can proceed to these places, why
can’t they open more issuing locations, particularly the Washington, DC area
to serve Maryland, Virginia, and other neighboring states. ” Mrs Akindele a
Nigerian living in Alexandra, Virginia with her family lamented.

According to her, restricting the issuing center to just New York and Atlanta is
not in the best interest of many who are living in far states.

On why credit and debits cards are not being accepted, African Examiner
gathered that They were suspended due to fraud. Our source said “people will
ask their banks to stop the payment, after they have completed their
registration and obtained their passport.”

Apart from the United States, Nigerians living in other countries, especially in
Asia are also finding it difficult to obtain the new passport.

A Nigerian living in UK said after making his own payment and completed the
registration last month, he was given a date in October for the passport
process.

It is also interesting to note that if you make a payment abroad and you
happen to travel to Nigeria during the period that you are waiting, you will not
be able to use the same payment to procure the passport in Nigeria unless you
make a new payment.

Meanwhile, reports reaching us indicate that the Nigerian government may have
recognized the hitches, as it has lifted the suspension placed on the machine
readable passport, popularly known as MRP, which was originally scheduled to
terminate on April 30, 2011.

The government had announced that Nigerians holding the MRP passport
would not be able to use them to travel at the end of April 2011 as they are
expected to obtain the ECOWAS passport.

A senior official at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC told African
examiner that anyone who still holds the MRP passport can still use them to
travel if the passport has not expired.

His words “If you have an unexpired MRP passport you can still use it to travel
but if expired you cannot use it nor renew it, your only option is to obtain the e-
passport.”

However, as part of intervention to ease the problem, Officers of the Nigerian
Immigration Service from Nigeria have been going round to various cities across
the US to help facilitate speedy issuance of the passport to those living far
away from New York and Atlanta, the last batch of the officers just left US last
month and may return in July, according to our source. It is not clear however,
if this intervention is being extended to Nigerians living in other countries/end

-By African Examiner
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