A personnel record of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) lists Comptroller-General Kemi Nanna Nandap’s retirement date as October 10, 2026, despite President Bola Tinubu’s approval of an extension of her tenure through December 31, 2026.
The discrepancy raises questions about how the Service’s personnel records reflect the presidential extension and how retirement arrangements for its head are being administered.
The record, obtained by SaharaReporters, identifies Nandap by her name and rank and lists October 10, 1989, as her first appointment date. It records March 1, 2024, as the date of her present appointment as Comptroller-General and October 10, 2026, as her retirement date.
However, the Presidency announced on March 31, 2025, that Tinubu had approved an extension of Nandap’s tenure until December 31, 2026.
In a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, the Presidency said Nandap began her career in the NIS on October 9, 1989, and was appointed Comptroller-General effective March 1, 2024.
Her original tenure as head of the Service was scheduled to end on August 31, 2025, according to the statement.
The Presidency said Tinubu approved the extension in recognition of her leadership and what it described as progress in border management, the modernisation of immigration processes and national security measures.
The discrepancy does not, by itself, establish that Nandap’s tenure ended on October 10 or that the presidential extension was revoked.
The Presidency’s publicly announced position remains that her tenure runs through December 31, 2026.
Questions Over Immigration Service Personnel Records
The discrepancy comes as the NIS faces questions about succession planning, senior-level vacancies and the retirement of officers across the Service.
A personnel list supplied to SaharaReporters reportedly contains the names of hundreds of officers whose recorded retirement dates fall in 2026.
The list includes officers at different ranks and provides details such as their service numbers, dates of first appointment, current appointments and recorded retirement dates.
Nandap’s entry is particularly significant because her recorded retirement date falls before the December deadline announced by the Presidency for the end of her extended tenure.
The record also gives October 10, 1989, as her first appointment date, while the Presidency’s March 2025 statement gives October 9, 1989, as the date she began her career in the Service.
Leadership Succession And Career Progression
The issue also comes amid concerns raised by immigration sources about career progression and leadership succession within the NIS.
The sources alleged that delays in senior appointments and promotion opportunities had affected officers’ career prospects, particularly personnel approaching retirement.
The sources also claimed that several senior officers had recently retired and that only two of the Service’s 10 Deputy Comptrollers-General remained active.
SaharaReporters’ efforts to reach NIS spokesperson Akinsola Akinlabi by phone for comment were unsuccessful.