Automation of passport application is 99% completed – Minister

Automation of passport application is 99% completed – Minister

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, announced on Tuesday that the automation of Nigeria’s passport application process is 99 percent complete.

In an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ojo stated that the automated application will be operational in a week, and that after that, Nigerians will only travel to immigration centers to conduct fingerprint biometrics for their passports.

He went on to say that with the new method, Nigerians will be able to upload their passport photos and other supporting papers from the comfort of their own homes.

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.

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“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.”

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.

Automation of passport application is 99% completed – Minister