{"id":122355,"date":"2025-09-18T19:55:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T18:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=122355"},"modified":"2025-09-18T19:55:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T18:55:54","slug":"minister-inspects-passport-personalisation-centre-pledges-one-week-delivery-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/minister-inspects-passport-personalisation-centre-pledges-one-week-delivery-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Inspects Passport Personalisation Centre, Pledges One-Week Delivery Timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Tracy Moses<\/div>\n
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The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday inspected the newly established Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja, assuring Nigerians that passports will now be delivered within a week.<\/div>\n
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The Minister, accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, and the Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, toured the facility, describing it as a major breakthrough in the government\u2019s ongoing passport reform agenda.<\/div>\n
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According to him, the centre places Nigeria on par with advanced countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, India, and Bangladesh, all of which operate a centralised passport personalisation system \u2014 regarded as the global benchmark for efficiency, security, and credibility.<\/div>\n
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Dr. Tunji-Ojo explained that the world-class infrastructure at the centre will drastically transform passport issuance, increasing production capacity from about 250\u2013300 booklets per machine daily to as many as 4,500\u20135,000 passports. With the upgrade, approved passports can be processed within 24 hours and delivered to applicants in under a week.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe had earlier promised two weeks for delivery, but we are moving towards achieving one week or even less,\u201d the Minister said. \u201cThe days of backlogs and manual processes are behind us. Nigerians can now look forward to quicker, more dependable services, and stronger integrity of our passports.\u201d<\/div>\n
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He further recalled that Nigeria has successfully migrated to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory, which validates travel documents worldwide. \u201cThis reform has significantly boosted the credibility of our passports across the globe,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n
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The Minister also highlighted major milestones of the reform programme, which include the adoption of a single, uniform passport series to eliminate discrepancies, integration into ICAO\u2019s Public Key Directory for international authentication, and the full deployment of the new technology across all passport offices, including Nigerian embassies and missions abroad.<\/div>\n
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He expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his steadfast support, as well as to Dr. Ajani, the Comptroller General, officers of the Ministry, NIS personnel, and the technical partners whose dedication made the project a reality.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis initiative reflects our determination to strengthen institutions rather than rely on individual-driven systems,\u201d he concluded.<\/div>\n
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