By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has explained how his ministry contributed its quota in generating revenue for the country.
Tunji-Ojo maintained that the ministry of Interior generated over N6 billion from marriages, applications for citizenship and places of worship in 2024.
The minister spoke on Tuesday during a media parley in Abuja.Tunji-Ojo said a key part of the ministry is the citizenship and business department which deals with naturalisation, marriages, expatriate quota, and other services.
He said the ministry realised that the revenue that was coming to government from the department was not up to what was expected.
Tunji-Ojo said as a result, a process of optimising and automating the department was created.
“And in the last one year, I’m happy to tell you that the revenue that accrued to government increased by over 150 percent due to the optimisation of that particular solution,” he said.
“And for instance, in expatriate quota last year, the government was able to realise about N3.2 billion. And of course, this is not about just giving quota to people, it’s about application fee. This is an application revenue.
“Then for marriages, we’re happy that we were able to rake in about N2.4 billion, citizenship N392m, and places of worship about N12 million.
“So in total, last year, the department was able to generate about N6,034,457,000. That is over 150% increase from 2023.”
The minister said there is a very strict verification system for foreigners interested in Nigeria’s citizenship.
“There’s a lot of handshake with security agencies. And to be a Nigerian citizen now, there are a lot of factors, there are a lot of ‘I’s to be dotted and ‘T’s to be crossed without creating unnecessary bureaucracy,” he said.
“But at least by adopting technology… through the adoption of technology, we are optimising that particular service.
“It’s gonna be a better experience for the applicant, but it’s also going to ensure that government is able to take decisions from an objective point of view.”
Tunji-Ojo also disclosed that the ministry of interior repatriated 828 foreigners to their various countries in 2024.
While he did not list their specific offences, he said the repatriation was carried out by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
