The approval of seven point one billion naira for the construction of Nigeria Immigration Service technology centre will enhance effective service delivery.

Its Comptroller-General, Muhammad Babandede, said in Abuja that the approval of the project by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, was “a dream come true” for the the service.

FEC had announced the approval of eleven billion naira for the construction of Nigeria Immigration Service technology centre and purchase of fire fighting vehicles for the Federal Fire Service.

Three point nine billion naira was approved for the procurement of twenty fire fighting vehicles for the federal fire service while seven point one billion naira was earmarked for the construction of Nigeria Immigration Service technology centre.

“I received with deep appreciation the Presidential approval on behalf of the NIS and the good people of Nigeria that are yearning for seamless service delivery from the NIS who will continue to enjoy timely delivery and transparent services,” Babandede said.

He said the building, when constructed, would buttress the vision of the service to be a modern, effective and efficient immigration service manned by a well-trained and motivated workforce.

“It will serve the public better and encourage Foreign Direct Investment by removing bureaucratic bottlenecks and constraints to doing business in the country and making Nigeria a progressively easier place to do business,” he said.

Minister of Interior, Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Dambazau, who announced the approval, said the centre would help harness the data of the service which presently was domiciled with various service providers.

“The centre, when operational, will help bring together all the data used by the Nigeria Immigration Service under one roof.

“For now we have these data domiciled with the service providers and they are in piecemeal.

“So, at the proposed centre to be sighted within the headquarters of the Service, the data will be brought together so that the immigration can be able to interface with other institutions that have to do with internal security, border management and so on, like the Customs Service,” he said.