By Olamilekan Abayomi
Nigeria has joined the ranks of advanced countries like the United Kingdom, United States, and France in passport production, with a new capacity to produce up to 5,000 passports daily. This milestone was announced by Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during an inspection of the newly completed Centralised Passports Personalisation Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Abuja.
The new centre boasts advanced infrastructure, boosting production from 250-300 booklets per machine daily to between 4,500 and 5,000. This development has significantly reduced passport processing time, with approved passports now available for collection within 24 hours. The minister attributed this achievement to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, stating that the initiative has effectively ended persistent delays and eliminated passport backlogs.
The new centre can produce between 4,500 and 5,000 passports daily, a significant increase from the previous 250-300 booklets per machine daily. Nigeria has shifted to a single, centralised system for passport production, marking a major reform milestone in the country’s 62-year history of passport administration. The centralisation aligns with international standards, guaranteeing uniformity, enhancing security features, and strengthening the global integrity of Nigerian travel documents.
Approved passports are now available for collection within 24 hours, and efforts are underway to achieve a one-week turnaround time for passport processing. The minister emphasized that the completion of the Centre reinforced the Federal Government’s pledge to modernise Nigeria’s passport ecosystem, deliver efficient services to citizens, and elevate the global reputation of Nigerian travel documents.
The successful deployment of the new system across all passport issuing locations, including Nigerian missions abroad, is a significant feature that has made Nigerian passports top-notch in the global arena. The new system enables the NIS to meet daily demands within four to five hours of operation, making it a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria. Nigerians can now expect faster, more reliable service as the government strengthens the integrity of travel documents.
The reform supports President Bola Tinubu’s agenda to modernise public services and elevate the global reputation of Nigerian travel documents.
