Interior minister Rauf Aregbesola has blamed Nigerians for patronising touts and corrupt officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service to get a passport.

According to Mr Aregbesola, Nigerians bribing corrupt immigration officers are messing up President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.

“Part of the reforms is the migration of passport application and payments to digital platforms,” Mr Aregbesola said. “But we regret to observe that applicants still patronise touts and unscrupulous officials in the hope to beat the system and get expedited services.”

Mr Aregbesola disclosed this in Ibadan during the rollout of the enhanced e-passport with polycarbonate data page and other security features, according to a statement by his media aide, Sola Fasure, on Monday.

While urging Nigerians to apply and pay for passports online and stop patronising corrupt immigration officials, Mr Aregbesola said, “Patronising touts and passport office officials doesn’t always end well. But rather serves to defeat our purpose of eliminating corruption and infusing integrity to the passport administration process.”

Mr Aregbesola’s statement further confirmed reports on massive corruption by immigration officials processing passports.