“The System Can Actually Work If We Demand Accountability” — Investigative Journalist Soyombo Declares After Passport Delay Is Resolved Hours Following Call-Out
Mr Fisayo Soyombo, an investigative journalist and founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), on Tuesday 13th, 2025, via his Facebook page, recounted how his passport renewal application remained unresolved for six months despite full payment and compliance with official procedures.
Soyombo shared the details of his prolonged struggle with Nigeria’s passport renewal process, revealing that his application was only activated a few hours after he publicly called out the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The post reads, “In January 2024, when I wrote that ‘Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo will NEVER be able to revolutionise Nigeria’s messily-corrupt passport application system’, some accused me of prophesying doom,” he wrote. “But it is now six months since I paid and applied for the renewal of my international passport. Maybe I will get it tomorrow.”
According to the FIJ founder, he paid ₦109,700 on Thursday, July 31, 2025, through the Nigeria Immigration Service payment portal and later visited one of the NIS offices in Lagos to complete documentation and biometric capture.
He alleged that instead of a smooth process, officials mocked applicants who had begun their registration online, “Meanwhile, the officers first mocked us for kick-starting the registration online,” he stated.
Soyombo explained that he was unable to complete biometric capture on the same day due to what officials described as a “network problem” that lasted several hours, forcing him to return the following day. Even after completing the process, his application status remained unchanged, “As I write this, ‘passport pending production’ is the long-running feedback from NIS,” he said.
He questioned the positive public image of the Interior Minister, noting that it had been nearly five months since the minister announced that Nigerians would receive their international passports within one week of application.
“The irony is that Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo continues to be lauded by the unsuspecting public as one of the best, even the best ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet,” Soyombo wrote.
“My opinion of him remains unchanged; he is simply the typical Nigerian politician who has a mastery of gallery play and public sentiment manipulation via the media for personal branding,” he added. “Woe unto you if you rely on media reports to gauge the performance of public officers or, more importantly, the efficiency of public institutions!”
In a follow-up post, Soyombo clarified that he had paid for his passport to be delivered to a designated address, stressing that the process was advertised as fully digital and contactless.
“Let me also state very clearly that I paid for my passport to be delivered to an address,” he wrote. “In a normal world where Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo digitalised the process as frequently trumpeted, that passport should be in my possession by now if it was indeed ready.”
“I should no longer have a business with the NIS website or their physical office,” he added.
However, a few hours after his public posts, Soyombo disclosed that the status of his passport application was suddenly updated, “For six months, the NIS held on to my passport renewal application. However, a few hours after my social media posts calling out Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo’s failed ‘contactless’ application promise, the Nigeria Immigration Service has suddenly activated my passport status to ‘issued/collected’,” he wrote.
He said the update came despite what he described as coordinated attacks on his social media accounts by individuals he referred to as “micro-semi-pseudo-influencers and ‘data boys’ hustling for their daily bread.” According to Soyombo, the development shows that Nigeria’s public systems can function when accountability is enforced.
“The implication of this sudden about-face is clear: the system can actually work (i) if the minister and the civil servants are committed to making it work; and (ii) if we demand accountability from the government regardless of coordinated social-media backlash,” he said.
Despite the change in status, Soyombo maintained that he would not visit any NIS office to collect the passport, insisting that the government must honour its promise of a contactless process, “That said, I will still not physically visit any NIS office,” he wrote. “The minister’s repeated promise is a ‘contactless’ process that ‘eliminates physical contact’ with NIS staff. I paid to have it delivered to a designated address, and I expect to enjoy the service I paid for.”
He ended with a critical remark reflecting the experience of many Nigerians navigating the passport system, “When it’s your turn, visit their office in person and bribe whoever is asking you to,” Soyombo wrote.
All efforts to reach the Minister of Interior for comment were unsuccessful. As of the time of filing this report, neither the Nigeria Immigration Service nor the Ministry of Interior had issued an official response to Soyombo’s claims.
