By Ajibola Oladele, JKNewsMedia Reporter
PASSPORT PRODUCTION will no longer be carried out at multiple centres across Nigeria, as the Federal Government of Nigeria has announced the transition to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this known on Thursday while inspecting the newly completed Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja.
He said the development represents a major milestone in reforming passport administration in the country.
According to the Minister, Nigeria had not operated a central passport production facility since the establishment of the Immigration Service in 1963.
He described the new system as a historic breakthrough designed to improve efficiency and accountability in service delivery.
“The project is 100 percent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that the previous machines could only produce between 250 and 300 passports daily, a capacity he said had contributed to delays and backlogs in the system.
With the new infrastructure, he stated, the Immigration Service can now produce between 4,500 and 5,000 passports per day.
The Minister affirmed that the reform ends decades of fragmented operations, where passport personalisation was conducted across multiple centres within and outside Nigeria.
He stressed that the centralised model will not only accelerate delivery but also safeguard the integrity of the passport issuance process.
Tunji-Ojo reiterated the government’s commitment to deploying technology-driven solutions that ensure seamless, transparent, and faster passport services for Nigerians at home and abroad.
