Senior government official accused of forgery, falsification to obtain passport

A senior government official has been accused by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) of forgery and falsification to obtain passport.
This is coming at a time when Muhammad Babandede, comptroller general of NIS, has pledged not to spare individual or groups involved in passport related offences from getting away with them. The suspect (name withheld) is a senior protocol officer in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and is alleged to be involved in the forgery of documents meant for the procurement of Nigerian passport.

In a statement sent by NIS management on Sunday, it stated that the suspect conspired by forging official Identity Card and signature of the Minister of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing on a letter issued to another official to procure “Official Passport” thereby collecting N250,000 as proceed knowing fully well that the subject is not a government official.

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According to the statement, “the suspect appeared before Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, where he was charged with ‘Conspiracy’ making false statement for the purpose of procuring Nigerian passport and engaging in forgery.
“The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service has advised prospective applicants seeking Nigerian passport to avoid false declarations, forgery and use of fake breeder documents, and follow due process by paying online, applying online and desist from patronising touts.
“The procurer and the applicant will be prosecuted in accordance with the provision of the law related to ‘ Passport Offences,” the statement added.

IFEOMA OKEKE

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.