The Federal Government has put an end to a decentralised passport production system in Nigeria that has lasted for over 62 years, with the introduction of centralised passport production to improve efficiency, speed, as well as to save cost.
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this disclosure during the commencement and inspection of the new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja. He says the reform will promote efficient processing of passport applications while aligning it to global best practices in passport supervision.
Previously, passport production was done from multiple centres across the country; and, in most cases, with under-utilised machines processing between 250 and 300 documents a day – a very low production rate. That is drastically changing with the introduction of the new centralised passport production facility where passport production will increase to between 4,500 and 5,000 passports per day.
Processing time is also expected to reduce significantly. Tunji-Ojo added that once applications are received and approved, it will take between four and five hours to print, and for delivery, a one-week production target rather than two weeks as has been the norm for Nigerians in the past.
The minister confirmed that the project is “100% ready” and that it will serve as a mechanism to put an end to the inconvenience that applicants normally experience with back and forth re-visits, not to even mention long queues, and various inconsistent service across the centres.
For citizens, this is a significant improvement in the experience of obtaining passport services, particularly after years of complaints about delays, incurring unnecessary expenses to access better services, and travelling long distances to passport processing centres.
However, experts have noted that in order to avoid bottlenecks, the centralised system will require strong oversight, dependable supply chains, and ongoing technical support. The success of the reform, they argue, will depend on sustained management and monitoring.
In addition, this move by the government marks a monumental milestone in Nigeria Passport service history. With centralisation, the Government hopes to promote reliability and security identification features, thereby offering a faster and more uniform experience for citizens both at home and abroad.
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