Nigeria’s Minister of Home Affairs, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, has highlighted several reasons why the Nigerian Immigration Service is initiating a “contactless” process for renewing Nigerian passports at home and abroad.
For years, Nigerians have complained and lamented the process of obtaining and renewing passports, which is riddled with bottlenecks, red tape, unnecessary hardships, location issues, long lines, and long wait times. , and is said to be rife with corruption.
The minister spoke to reporters in Abuja on Friday and explained the reasons behind the project.
Tunji Ojo spoke about Nigerians in the diaspora. “Sometimes you have to travel six hours on a plane, sometimes you have to cancel work for the day, some students have to cancel a day of school just because they need a passport. ”.
“For example, if you look at a place like the United Kingdom in London, there are probably over 16,000 applicants, and they can only accept a maximum of 200 to 300 in a day. 16,000 people?
“It’s amazing when you get a call from the head of the government and say we have a favor for you. Someone needs a passport. That can’t be true. So we could create something called VAS (value-added services). That’s what I thought.
“Of course, we need to partner with the private sector to make this happen, and it’s not free. There’s still the option of going to an immigration center, but for those who want to go. For those who don’t, there’s a comfortable You can sit in your room and do all the passport stuff and expect your passport to arrive at your door, probably within 24 or 48 hours,” the minister said.
Financial support promotion article page
Nigerians need trustworthy journalism. Please help us by reporting.
Support fact-based journalism made by Nigerians, for Nigerians. Our thoroughly researched reporting relies on support from readers like you.
By making a small donation, you can help us keep our news free and accessible to everyone.
Every contribution helps ensure we can continue to provide only quality journalism and stories that matter, without paywalls.
Support now x Do it later
Suppressing issues
The minister stressed that the solution seeks to address the question of why people have to go to the NIS in the first place.
“The only reason you go is to get biometrics. The world is so digital now that you don’t have to physically go and capture it. In fact, if you do it virtually, you can’t physically You might even get better resolution than if you were to do it directly,” he said.
Regarding the corruption inherent in the existing system, he said people could be asked to make illegal payments in some cases. “Especially in some notorious areas like Umuahia, where I am in charge of cases even yesterday, it is the people you would expect to collect bribes from. For a passport of 50,000, to get 100,000 Or pay 150,000 Naira.
“In some cases, even if your passport is ready, it will not be issued until you pay for it. So this is the level of hardship that Nigerians are being forced to experience. We believe that the nature of government is to be responsive. We believe that the reason we are in government today is because we have to be dynamic. We have to keep updating our technology because problems are always changing.
“We told our service providers Iris Smart Technologies and NewWorks Solutions to automate the things people do in the office and bring them together into a single model. I’m excited to share with you what I’ve been putting together over the last few months.”
Who can benefit from this process?
According to the Minister, to benefit from this process, you must be over 18 years old and have a previous passport that you wish to renew. This means the service will not be available to first-time applicants because “we have to balance security concerns with what we are trying to do,” he said.
process
The first process is to download the app from the Android and Apple stores. This app is owned by the Nigerian Immigration Service and is branded with the same. After that, the user must create a profile. This allows anyone using your app to keep a log of their activity.
The user then provides the NIN information, which is integrated with NIMC, and the details of the expired passport. The user then uploads some data. There is a section to take a selfie, capture your face and then capture your fingerprint. All information must match the information on the NIS data page.
Once the fingerprint is verified, the user will be prompted to make the payment. Due to unforeseen circumstances, data is retained for approximately 48 hours for each user, during which time the user can resume the application process from where it left off.
Once payment is completed, registration is 100% complete. The minister assured that citizens’ data and national security will not be at risk.
“Actually, the whole idea is to strengthen national security, and the best way to fight corruption is to eliminate the opportunity for it to even occur.
“Once captured, we query our database to compare data and other features, and if the results match, we approve production and distribution. No need to wait in line, no matter what state or country you are in. You don’t have to pay £150 because you want help avoiding the queues, you don’t have to pay £200 because you need your passport right away.
“This will reduce corruption in the system and everything you pay goes to the government, which is lining its own pockets even though people are paying more.” Instead, such revenue can be used to improve the system.”
When does this process start?
The minister said the solution is 100 per cent ready and will be centralized in Abuja on April 1, 2025.
“This process will start on April 1st, but there will be a lot of testing done by then.”
Tunji Ojo said there are currently about 100 passport production centers in Nigeria, but “we intend to concentrate passport production only in Lagos and Abuja.” All passports will be issued in Nigeria, as is done all over the world. Currently, there is a passport production machine that can produce about 800 passports per hour, and is scheduled to be completed by March 31st. We are optimistic that this will put an end to corruption related to passport renewal. ”
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ honest and trustworthy journalism
At Premium Times, we strongly believe in quality journalism. Recognizing that not everyone can afford expensive news subscriptions, we are committed to delivering carefully researched and fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you turn to Premium Times for daily updates, in-depth investigations of pressing national issues, or interesting stories, we value our readership.
It’s important to recognize that producing news is expensive, and we pride ourselves on never putting our stories behind walls of exorbitant compensation.
To sustain our commitment to free and accessible news, would you consider supporting us with a small monthly donation?
contribute
Text Ad: Call Willy – +2348098788999
