Nigerian citizens residing in New York have appealed to the federal government to provide passport production printers to the Nigeria Consulate to speed up the process of obtaining a passport in the United States, News About Nigeria reports.
The plea was voiced during a virtual 12th Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Consulate for the Nigerian Community in its jurisdiction, covering 20 states.
The New York Consulate, serving states such as New York, New Jersey, and others, has faced challenges as the only passport production centre in the U.S. is located in Washington, DC.
The decision to allocate two passport manufacturing printers to the Washington, DC centre, which serves 10 states, while the New York Consulate, which serves 20 states and receives a higher volume of applications, has none, has drawn criticism during the conference.
The Nigerians asked whether financial constraint is responsible for blocking the purchase of more machines and voiced dissatisfaction at the Federal Government’s apparent lack of response to earlier petitions on this issue.
They said they were ready to mobilise resources themselves to obtain the necessary equipment.
Mr. Olayinka DanSalami, the meeting’s moderator, shared the sentiments of the concerned Nigerians and said there is a need for more Nigerian associations to join the campaign for the provision of passport production printers in the New York Consulate.
In response, the Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Amb. Lot Egopija thanked the concerned citizens for their passion and assured them that the government had been notified.
He expressed hope that passport production printers would be delivered to the New York and Atlanta Consulates in the next phase of machine issuance.
The Organisation for the Advancement of Nigerians (OAN) and 20 partner organisations had previously appealed to the Federal Government on February 6 to install passport production printers at the consulates in New York and Atlanta.
The lack of such equipment has been identified as an obstacle to providing efficient consular services in these locations.
