Nigeria Passport Automation 99% Ready, Going Live Next Week — Minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced that the automation of passport applications is 99% complete and set to go live next week.
Tunji-Ojo, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, stated, “Automation of passport applications is 99 percent done. We’ve completed testing and should be going live in the next week.”
He said that the new system would simplify the process, requiring only biometrics at immigration centers, while other tasks like uploading photos and supporting documents could be done from home.
Tunji-Ojo assured that reforms aimed to reduce frustration in the application process and that only a brief biometric capture would be necessary in person.
The Minister highlighted the end of the “chaotic” passport application process and stressed that the reforms would enable online form submission and payments.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the previous inconveniences faced by applicants, stating, “The era of people sacrificing a whole day just because they want to go to a passport office for enrollment is over; it is unacceptable.”
Regarding the backlog, Tunji-Ojo revealed that 204,322 international passports are now ready for collection out of the initial 300,000.
However, only 99,901 have been collected so far. The Minister’s commitment to providing a seamless experience for Nigerians during the passport application process was reiterated throughout the interview.
