The Minister of Interior, Hon Olubunmi Ojodu accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mrs. Kemi Nanna Nandap, on Wednesday inspected the newly built Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre located at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
The inspection, witnessed by members of the press, featured a guided tour of the state-of-the-art facility conducted by technical partners who provided detailed explanations of the processes and operations of the new centre.
Speaking after the tour, the Minister described the development as a major breakthrough in the Federal Government’s efforts to reform passport administration in Nigeria. He noted that the project, realised at no cost to the government, is a testament to the transparency and accountability agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope administration.
According to him, the new facility is equipped with high-speed machines capable of personalising over 1,000 passports per hour. This represents a remarkable leap from the previous average of 250–300 passports processed daily. With the new capacity, the NIS can now produce between 4,500 and 5,000 passports within just five working hours.
“This is a landmark achievement in the 62-year history of the Nigeria Immigration Service. For the first time, passport personalisation has been centralised, ending the era of multiple production centres scattered across the world,” the Minister said.
He further stressed that the innovation will not only ensure faster processing and delivery of passports to applicants but also significantly reduce waiting time, thereby eliminating unnecessary delays that had long plagued the system.
The commissioning of the Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre marks another stride in the Federal Government’s strategic infrastructural investments aimed at improving service delivery to Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora.
