Nigeria’s Consulate-General in New York has stated that the 64-page passport booklet is now available for people to obtain after submitting an application.
The declaration was made by Lot Egopija, Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, during a hybrid Town Hall Meeting.
The Nigerian Consul-General in Atlanta, Amina Smaila; a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director, Ngozi Ukeje; and Aisha Dewa, a Minister in the Nigerian Embassy in Washington overseeing Trade and Investment, all attended the meeting, which took place both physically and virtually, according to BusinessDay.
“During the meeting, Lot Egopija urged Nigerians who previously applied for the 32-page passport booklet to upgrade to the 64-page version for quicker response, by paying the difference in fee.”
The statement reads;
Those who are rushing for Christmas and are still wondering if they could get passports, the 64-page passport booklet is available for them. If you have paid for the 32-page passport booklet before now and you have not done your biometrics, you can upgrade by paying the difference in fee.
But if you have done your biometrics, you will have to be patient and wait to get your passport till the expiration of the time we have given to you.
We have also improved to some extent on our telephony system. Only last week, we got an offer from the Organisation for the Advancement of Nigerians (OAN) to support us. The proposal by OAN will also support our website to ensure all our communication platforms are working effectively.
Also, winter is coming and we cannot continue subjecting our citizens to waiting outside, so we have made the waiting room available. We have told our nationals, they don’t need to come in here before 9 a.m. but should anyone come in as from 8 a.m. they will be ushered into the waiting area.
So this is another area we have looked into at this time to ensure that our nationals are protected because if they are sick, we will also be looking after them.
Uzoma Emenike, Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, complimented Egopija for providing a holding area to keep Nigerians from queuing outside the Nigeria House in New York.
“We’re here to assist in any manner we can in resolving some of these challenges.” Nigerians aren’t coming, and they’re talking to them through the gate. Certainly not! I’m delighted he’s doing the same thing here,” she said.