ABUJA – The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has described the newly completed Data Personalization Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Abuja as a “game-changer” in the country’s passport production system.
Speaking during an inspection on Thursday, the minister said the facility will drastically reduce response times, with passports now printable within 24 hours and deliverable within a week.
According to Tunji-Ojo, this is the first time since the establishment of the NIS in 1963 that Nigeria will operate a centralized passport personalization facility of international standards, comparable to those in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, India, and Bangladesh.
He explained that the centre ends the old practice of personalizing passports across 96 centres in Nigeria and abroad, a model he described as “vulnerable and inefficient.”
“Centralization is global best practice because it ensures higher quality, better control, and greater efficiency. We promised Nigerians that we would centralize passport personalization and production, and I am pleased to announce that this project is now 100 percent ready,” the minister said.
With the new machines capable of producing about 1,000 passports per hour, the facility can now process between 4,500 and 5,000 passports in a normal workday, compared to the previous 250–300 per machine daily.
The minister also highlighted other reforms, including the unification of Nigeria’s two passport series into a single regime with the support of technical partner Iris Smart Technologies, and the country’s full migration to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Public Key Directory for global authentication of travel documents.
Recalling that the government inherited a backlog of 204,000 passport applications, Tunji-Ojo assured that the new system eliminates such challenges by automating processes and reducing human intervention.
“This project ensures that the era of backlogs is over. Officers no longer have to work round-the-clock to clear piles of applications. The system is now seamless, fast, and accountable,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo commended President Bola Tinubu, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, NIS officers, and technical partners for their roles in delivering the project.
He added that the reforms directly benefit citizens by cutting waiting times from weeks to hours. “We promised two weeks’ delivery; we are already working towards achieving one week or less,” the minister said.
