Tunji-Ojo excited as NIS ends decentralised passport production after 62 years

By Kelechi Ogunleye

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has explained how transitioning of production of Nigerian passport for multiple centres to a single, centralised system will benefit the country.

Tunji – Ojo spoke on Thursday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Headquarters in Abuja.

He added that with the new centralised system, the NIS has officially ended use of multiple centres for the production of Nigerian passport for the first time in 62 years.

He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.

“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.

“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game changer for passport processing in Nigeria.

“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.

“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.

He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.

Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.

He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.

(NAN)