Nigeria Gets First Centralised Passport Centre, Targets One-Week Delivery

The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday inspected the newly completed Centralised Passport Personalization Centre in Abuja, saying that the facility will ensure faster delivery of passports and permanently eliminate backlogs.

He stressed that the centre would enable Nigerians to obtain passports within one week, and in many cases, within 24 hours of approval.

Speaking during the inspection, the Minister said the project represents a historic leap in the 62-year history of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), which had never before operated a central centre for passport production.

While describing the centre as a symbol of the government’s determination to modernize service delivery, Tunji-Ojo explained that the old structure, which had over 90 personalization locations worldwide, was inefficient and difficult to control.

According to the Minister, the centre is equipped with machines capable of producing 1,000 passports per hour and up to 5,000 daily. He insisted that the era of backlog is gone as everything is now automated.

“At the moment, I think, we’ve got about 96 centers across the world and in Nigeria. And of course, Nigeria, as I keep saying, is the only country that I know, probably with the exception of China, that does in 31 locations, that has this large number. If you look at the United States of America, there are only two personalization centers. The United Kingdom, it’s only one. In France, it’s only three. If you look at even Bangladesh, it’s one. India is one.

“This helps in the quality of our passport and, of course, quality control of our passport system. It’s global best practice. And we decided that the scenario whereby we personalize in various locations, was not acceptable.

“We made the promise under this government that we’re going to put an end to the ugly trade. And I’m happy today that with what you’re saying, the project is 100 percent ready.

“Nigeria can boast of the fact that we can be more productive, more efficient in our passport reforms. As a matter of fact, the instant machines we were using were doing about 250, 300 per machine per day. Today, the system that you’re seeing does about 1,000 per hour.

“We have 4,500 to 5,000 that we produce in a day. So it means that NIS conveniently, within four or five hours of working, can provide solutions to the demand of Nigerians. It means that when people apply for passport and it’s approved within 24 hours, they can be sure that their passport can be printed. It means that we can serve the people better. It means that the government is bringing service closer to the people.

“We promised two weeks delivery. We are working towards one week. With this system, Nigerians no longer have to wait endlessly. The future of passport production is here.” he said

Speaking further, Tunji-Ojo also announced that the facility will permanently end the use of multiple passport series even as he disclosed that diaspora applicants are also covered.

“We inherited two series, A and B. Today, with the support of our technical partners, we now have a single enhanced passport regime. No two Nigerians will ever again carry different passport types.

“We inherited two passport series, the A series and the B series. Today, we are happy that NIS, with the support of our technical partner, we now have a single passport regime.

“It means that no two Nigerians, again, can carry two different types of passports. Uniformity enhancing the integrity of our travel document.

“I’m also happy to say that before this government came on board, we had only four countries in diaspora where we had the B series. Today, in less than two and a half years of this administration, every location in diaspora, we are on enhanced passport, B series, total migration, and the integrity of our document can be trusted.

The Minister revealed that Nigeria has successfully joined the Public Key Directory (PKD), the international system for authenticating travel documents.

“The PKI-PKD has become a reality under the Renewed Hope Agenda. That ensures global validation of our passport,” he explained.

Recalling challenges his administration met on assumption of office, Tunji-Ojo said: “We inherited 204,000 passport backlogs. We refused to build a system around individuals. We built strong institutions. Today, production will be done in record time, and backlog is history.”

He praised President Bola Tinubu for supporting the reform, noting that “since 1963, when Immigration was created, this is the first time Nigeria will have a centralised passport facility comparable to what exists in the US, UK, France, India and other advanced nations.”

The Minister also commended the Permanent Secretary, staff of the Interior Ministry, officers of the Immigration Service, and IRIS Smart Technologies, the technical partner that funded the project in collaboration with government.