FG to digitalise passport application service March 1, says Tunji-Ojo

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, says all passport applications will be processed online by March 1, 2025, as part of a broader digitalisation effort aimed at enhancing efficiency and curbing corruption.

Speaking in an interview with Segun Awosanya, better known as Segalink, the minister said the establishment of a centralised passport approval centre aims to enhance security and eliminate human interference in the process.

“With what we have now, over 100 people can apply for passport at a time without any physical intervention or appearance or queue,” Tunji-Ojo said.

”We’ve been able to open up a space and relocate immigration offices to everybody’s phone; and that is what technology is all about.

“Technology is about efficiency, value addition, effectiveness and solutions; and that’s what we’ve been able to do.”

The minister also announced the introduction of a contactless passport application service, currently operational in Canada, which will be rolled out in Nigeria by March.

Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Rivers states will be the first to adopt the system.

“In Canada, contactless is live; By February 1, by the grace of God, Europe is coming on board. And of course, by March 1, four states in Nigeria are also coming live; which is Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and River States,” he said.

“They’re coming on board on the contactless list because we don’t think it should be a solution only for foreigners, but also for Nigerians.

“Nigerians here should also be able to have that
advantage, because part of the advantages is that it eradicates corruption. You can’t collect money from who you don’t see, so we want to reduce the human interface as much as we can.

“We believe that once we are able to reduce the human interface, then we’ll be able to get corruption out of the things that we’re doing in that particular regard. If you get to immigration headquarters today, the permanent site of the centralized personalization center is already going live on direct.”

Tunji-Ojo also highlighted plans to centralise passport production in Nigeria, adding that all Nigerian passports, regardless of where they are applied for, will be printed domestically by May 1.

“By May 1, we are moving to the permanent location of a centralized production center. It means that all Nigerian passports anywhere in the world will be printed in Nigeria,” the minister said.

“This means we join the league of countries like the United States, like Britain, like Canada, and all other major countries in the world that centralize passport personalization procedures.”

‘WE’VE BUILT 8.3-PETABYTE DATA CENTRE’

The minister also disclosed the establishment of an 8.3-petabyte data centre to address the country’s longstanding data management issues.

“We were able to build one of the biggest data centres in the history of Nigeria, which is the 8.3-petabyte centre,” he added.

“Before then, we inherited a Nigeria Immigration Service that had no data centre; where the data of Nigerians was obviously being saved in private capacities with various contractors, and that was a gross contravention of the Data Protection Act.

“Nigeria cannot proliferate the issuance of its security document because it is a gross violation of due process. And so, we decided to find a lasting solution to that.

“We started by promising Nigerians a 1.4-petabyte data centre, but we ended up delivering an 8.3-petabyte data centre — one of the largest in the world.”

He reiterated the administration’s commitment to making passports easily accessible, calling them important security materials and vital to Nigeria’s sovereignty.