”Well, it’s on record that Muhammad Babandede has served his statutory two terms and illegally added almost a year more as Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, well I would say he has done his best. His tenure means different thing to a whole lot of people, with divergent opinions.
You will recall that on assumption of duties Babandede rubbished all his predecessors, claiming that he met nothing on ground, that nothing was handed over to him, and that none of his predecessors did anything tangible, he claimed that there were so much corruption in NIS.Everybody was corrupt except Babandede. He said there was so much demoralization in the Service. These are all the things he said in his first interview with PREMIUM TIMES.
Now you and I know better concerning who is deceiving who, and the big question is:what has Babandede bequeath to the Nigeria Immigration Service as he bows out.? Nothing except corruption ridden service. How much was being paid for passport before his appointment, and how much is it now.? We all know that it has jumped up with over 100 percent. The level of corruption has risen rapidly under Babandede administration at NIS. What is the morale of officers under his watch.? Passport racketeering under Babandeded administration has taken a frightening dimension, as at the time he took over Nigeria passport was just about N15,000, but today it has jumped up to about N50,000 depending on the corrupt officer you are dealing with. Members of the public can attest to all these corrupt practices under Babandede.
Babandede has done to improve border patrol. Meanwhile officers were being transferred indiscriminately without paying their transfer allowance.
Promotion of officers have been so lopsided under Babandede that lots of officers who had not attended promotion interview were being moved to their next rank. Take a look at the porosity of the Nigeria borders with its attendant influx of bandits from other countries especially our neighbouring countries. Has Babandede been able to do anything.? In spite of huge billions of naira said to have been expended in the procurement of border management equipment, has anything changed, it’s not the duty of soldiers to guard our borders it’s essentially the responsibility of the Nigeria Immigration Service, and this has failed under the leadership of Babandede at NIS..
Chunk of NIS revenue under Babandede were being diverted into private business accounts, and most of the jobs meant for NIS were given to private business concerns that have their interest.
75% of revenue under the leadership of Babandede at NIS went into private accounts, and I’m saying this with all sense of responsibility. Babandede administration at NIS should be probed.” Says Former NIS Officer, Daniel Makolo