ABUJA – Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced that Nigerians can now obtain their passports within 24 hours.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja after inspecting the data personalisation centre at the Immigration headquarters, the minister explained that the newly installed machine can produce about 1,000 passports per hour, enabling the service to print between 4,500 and 5,000 daily.
“The system we now have is a game-changer. The old machines produced only 250 to 300 passports per machine daily. The new system produces about 1,000 per hour, giving us a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports per day.
“This means that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) can now meet demand within a standard four to five-hour workday. Applicants whose requests are approved can now expect their passports to be printed within 24 hours.
“This reform enhances service delivery, efficiency, and accountability. Importantly, we have also unified the passport system. When we came in, there were two series — A and B. Today, with the support of our technical partner, IRISMAT, we now have a single passport regime. This eliminates duplication, ensures uniformity, and strengthens the integrity of our travel documents”, he said.
The minister also confirmed that the migration to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKI-PKD) has been completed.
“Nigeria is now fully integrated into this international system, further boosting the credibility of our passports,” he explained.
Dr. Tunji-Ojo recalled that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration inherited a backlog of 204,000 passports but has since cleared it.
“When this government assumed office, there were 204,000 backlogs of passports. We resolved not to build a system around individuals but to strengthen institutions. With this facility, the era of backlogs is over. Personalization is now automated, eliminating the need for officers to work round the clock or manually correct errors.
“This project is historic. Since the establishment of the Immigration Service in 1963, this is the first time Nigeria is having such a world-class centralised personalization centre, comparable to facilities in the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, India, and Bangladesh,” he added.
