By Francis Wilfred
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has inspected the newly completed Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja. He was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, and the Comptroller General of NIS, Kemi Nanna Nandap.
According to a statement by Ibraheem Zakariyya, Head of Press and Public Relations, the centre is the first of its kind in the 62-year history of the NIS and marks a milestone in Nigeria’s passport reform initiative.
Dr. Tunji-Ojo described the project as a “big win for this administration and for Nigerians,” noting that it places the country alongside global leaders such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, India, and Bangladesh, which operate centralised personalisation systems. He explained that the new facility will increase production capacity from about 300 passports per machine daily to over 5,000 passports, with approved booklets ready for collection within 24 hours.
“The era of backlogs and manual personalisation is over. Nigerians can now expect faster, more reliable service as we strengthen the integrity of our travel documents,” he said.
The Minister highlighted key milestones of the reform, including the migration to a uniform passport series, Nigeria’s full integration into the ICAO Public Key Directory for global authentication, and the successful deployment of the system at all issuing locations, including missions abroad.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for his support, as well as the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, the NIS Comptroller General, and other personnel for their commitment. He also praised IRIS Smart Technologies Ltd., the technical partner, for implementing the project without direct public funding.
“This project underscores our resolve to build enduring institutions rather than systems dependent on individuals,” Tunji-Ojo concluded.
The inspection, according to the Ministry, reaffirms the Federal Government’s commitment to modernising the passport ecosystem and enhancing the global reputation of Nigerian travel documents.
