Tinubu extends tenures of Immigration and Correctional Service chiefs to 2028

President Bola Tinubu has extended the tenures of the heads of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) by 18 months, keeping both in office until mid-2028. The Presidency announced the decision in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on Monday, 19 October 2026.

The two services touch millions of lives. The NIS issues passports and visas and guards Nigeria’s borders; the NCoS runs the country’s custodial centres. For the Immigration chief, Kemi Nanna Nandap, it is the second extension in under two years.

What did the Presidency say?

• Kemi Nanna Nandap, Comptroller-General of the NIS, will now serve until 30 June 2028.
• Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche, Controller-General of the NCoS, will now serve until 26 May 2028.

The extensions followed a recommendation from the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. The statement said the approval “addressed a succession gap in both Services and would allow the board enough time to appoint successors”.

The President commended the two officers for “the reforms achieved under their leadership” and charged them “to consolidate these gains”, according to the statement. It did not list the reforms.

Who are the two service chiefs?

Nandap was nominated as Comptroller-General on 21 February 2024 and confirmed by the Senate on 1 March 2024, the statement said. She joined the NIS in 1989.

Nwakuche was nominated as Controller-General of the Correctional Service in December 2024 and confirmed by the Senate in March 2025.

Why is this Nandap’s second extension?

Her first term was due to end on 31 August 2025. In March 2025, President Tinubu extended it to 31 December 2026, as reported at the time by Nairametrics, Sahara Reporters and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). The new 18 months run from that date to 30 June 2028.

A GistMatrix calculation from those dates: Nandap will have served two years and 10 months beyond her original end date, and more than four years as Comptroller-General in all.

The statement did not say when Nwakuche’s tenure was due to end. Counting back 18 months from his new date gives 26 November 2026, but the Presidency has not confirmed that date.

Is this a pattern?

It is not the first extension of its kind. In June 2026 the President gave the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, a further six months, to February 2027, so that he could finish the National Single Window project and manage an orderly succession, Onanuga said at the time.

In each case the Presidency has pointed to succession and unfinished work. GistMatrix found no public reaction to Monday’s extensions in the national outlets that carried the statement by Tuesday morning.

What happens next

• Successors: the board that oversees the two services, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, now has until mid-2028 to choose new heads.
• The reforms: watch for what the two services deliver in the extra time, from passport processing at the NIS to the state of the custodial centres under the NCoS.

The video with this story is NTA’s report on the statement.

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