The Nigerian Immigration Service has revealed that Nigerians with expired Nigerian passports can still return to Nigeria during the holidays as Nigerians don’t need a visa to enter Nigeria.
This was disclosed by Mr. Tony Akuneme, the NIS public relations officer, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday. He stated that Nigerians with dual citizenship are free to come to Nigeria but with their Nigeria passport even if it’s expired. Akuneme noted that the Nigerians must show their expired Nigeria passport to ensure they were truly from Nigeria.
Akuneme was reacting to inquiries about the new visa policy of the federal government, which says that Nigerians with dual citizenship don’t need visas to visit home. “The status of the new policy is that Nigerians with dual citizenship are free to come to Nigeria but with their Nigeria passport even if it’s expired. “You have to show that you are a Nigerian, that is why we say they can come with their expired passport. Dual citizenship means carrying two passports. “Unlike before when your passport is expired you would not be allowed to come to the country, now we can allow them to travel in with their expired Nigeria passport”, he said.
He added that the point of letting them in is to enable them to renew their Nigeria passport before going back. The federal government stated that Nigeria’s passport booklets are not in short supply. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior made this known while debunking claims stating otherwise at President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration’s Scorecard 2015-2023 4th edition. According to the minister, there are enough booklets available for those who had applied for passports and had been captured or are yet to be captured.
