Minister of Interior says passport application automation to begin in a week 

On Tuesday, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, revealed that the automation of Nigeria’s passport application is 99 percent completed.

While speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ojo said the automated application will become operational in a week stating that after completion,  Nigerians will merely go to immigration centers to do fingerprint biometrics for their passports.

He further revealed that with the new system, Nigerians can upload their passport photographs and other supporting documents from the comfort of their homes.

The minister said, “We gave a date — December 2023. We are 99 percent done. 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 center 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.”

In the interview, the minister also disclosed that e-gate systems would be installed at international airports in the country 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.