The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that passports will now be delivered within one week of enrolment, following sweeping reforms in the issuance system.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja during the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat.
“Our target is very clear: within one week of enrolment, every Nigerian should have their passport in hand. Not just delivering quickly, but delivering quality passports that reflect our integrity as a nation,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo explained that the new system would eliminate the long delays and extortion that once forced applicants to wait up to seven months or pay as much as ₦200,000 to fast-track processing.
He recalled that the government inherited a backlog of six months, which was cleared in two and a half weeks. Even his own daughter, he revealed, had once faced the same ordeal, saying he was forced to pay hundreds of thousands to secure her passport. “That era is over,” he declared.
The minister said Nigeria’s centralised personalisation centre, the largest in Africa, now has the capacity to print five times more passports than required. Applications can be vetted within 24 hours, and printing capacity is no longer a challenge, he stressed.
He announced that passport control officers (PCOs) would no longer have the power to approve or delay applications, citing widespread abuse and corruption. Approval has now been centralised to cut out racketeering.
“Some PCOs abused their power by refusing to approve or print passports until they were settled. That abuse ends now,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo added that the reforms would safeguard national integrity, noting that in the past foreigners had illegally obtained Nigerian passports. He cited the case of a Ugandan woman arrested in Lagos for carrying a fraudulently acquired Nigerian passport.
“Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity. Only Nigerians should carry it,” the minister declared.