The Federal Government through the Minister of Interior, on Thursday introduced first Centralised Passport Personalisation and Production Centre in Abuja.
Speaking at the tour of facility at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Abuja, today, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said
the facility is ready to be deployed to end the challenges facing the nation’s passport issuance process.
He said the facility as a landmark moment in the ongoing reform aimed at transforming the country’s passport issuance system and eliminating backlogs permanently.
Tunji-Ojo, who was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Magdalene Ajani, and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nanna Nandap, noted that: “Nigeria is now in the league of countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, India and Bangladesh that run centralised passport personalisation centres,” stressing that: “This is a big win for the government and a major shift towards efficiency and reliability.”
He explained that the centre’s state-of-the-art infrastructure would revolutionise passport production, boosting capacity from 250–300 booklets per machine daily to over 4,500–5,000 passports per day, with approved passports ready for collection within 24 hours.
“The era of backlogs and manual personalisation is over. Nigerians can now expect faster, more reliable service as we strengthen the integrity of our travel documents,” the Minister stated.
According to him, the new system puts an end to the previous arrangement where passports were personalised in about 96 centres across Nigeria and abroad — a model he described as “vulnerable and inefficient.”
“Centralisation is global best practice because it ensures higher quality, better control, and greater efficiency. We promised Nigerians that we would centralise passport personalisation and production, and I am pleased to announce that this project is now 100 per cent ready.
He further said that the old production machines could only deliver between 250 and 300 passports daily, often resulting in backlogs and long wait times for applicants.
“With this new facility, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation. This is a game changer for passport processing in Nigeria,” the minister said.
He added that the reform supports the ministry’s commitment to delivering passports within two weeks, with ongoing efforts to reduce processing time further to one week.
