The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced that Nigeria’s passport application automation is nearly finished, reaching 99% completion.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, he mentioned that the automated process will be operational within a week.
Following its completion, individuals will only need to visit immigration centers for fingerprint biometrics.
Additionally, he highlighted that Nigerians will be able to upload passport photos and supporting documents from their homes using the new system.
The minister said, “We gave a date — December 2023. We are 99 per cent done. In fact, we have done the testing and we should be going live in the next week or thereabouts.
“This will ensure that what Nigerians need to do at an immigration centre is just fingerprint biometrics
“Everything regarding pre-biometrics will be done in the comfort of your homes, including uploading passport photographs and supporting documents.
“They will have gone live about two weeks ago but I saw some errors when they came to do the presentation and I said no. We were talking about balancing national security and convenience.”
During the interview, the minister revealed plans to install e-gate systems at Nigeria’s international airports by February 2024.
“By February, all our international airports will have e-gates
“Once you are a Nigerian coming to Nigeria, you have no business seeing an immigration officer except if you are a person of interest,” he disclosed.
