The long wait for passports is finally over as the Federal Government has upgraded the country’s passport production system, allowing citizens to collect their passports in just 24 hours.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during his inspection of the newly launched Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja.
According to him, this development is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which has successfully cleared the backlog of applications and put an end to frustrating delays in passport processing.
"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,"Tunji-Ojo assured.
With this innovation, Nigeria now joins countries like the United States, United Kingdom, France, and India, all of which operate advanced passport systems designed for speed, transparency, and international authentication.
Production capacity has also received a massive boost moving from just 250–300 booklets per machine daily to an impressive 4,500–5,000 passports every day.
The Minister praised the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs. Kemi Nandap, and other key stakeholders for their efforts. He also noted that the project, delivered in partnership with IRIS Smart Technologies Ltd., was achieved without direct government funding.
Tunji-Ojo described the upgrade as a historic milestone in Nigeria’s 62 years of immigration service, adding that it has restored public trust in the nation’s travel documents.
