The Nigeria Immigration Department was established by an Act of Parliament (Cap 171, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) on August 1, 1963 when Alhaji Shehu Shagari was the Minister of Internal Affairs (a position now referred to as Minister of Interior). The initial Law regulating Immigration Duties was the Immigration Act of 1963 which was amended in 2014 and again in 2015 (Immigration Act, 2015). There are some facts about the Service identified.
- The Nigeria Immigration Service needs an effective customer service. The service needs to understand the importance of customer service in relation to their work.
2. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) was extracted from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in 1958.
3. The Comptroller General is the head of NIS, while Deputy Comptroller General head its various directorate and they are assisted by the Assistant Comptroller General and then the Comptrollers.
4. The major responsibility of the Service is to take charge of migration management in Nigeria.
5. There is a Servicom Unit in the Nigeria Immigration Service which stands for Service Compact with all Nigerians. Their objectives are identifying gaps in service delivery and coming up with suggestions on how to improve customer satisfaction and accountability.
6. The Service generated revenue worth N20,358,233,000 billion in 2018; N40,786,437,950 billion in 2019, and N16,705,512,250 billion in 2020.
7. The service embraced the use of ICT in its operations with the introduction of the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens card (CERPAC).
