The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said that by February 2024, Nigerians will have their passports delivered to their homes, offices and other places of their choice.
Speaking on Monday at the opening ceremony of the University of Lagos International Week with the theme, ‘Breaking the Borders of Partnership’, Tunji-Ojo said by January next year, Nigerians would be able to complete the application process online.
He said, “We have commenced the automation of our end-to-end passport application process and we have given a timeline from which Nigerians will begin to experience the ‘sweet experience’.
“This means that Nigerians will not have to wait more than two weeks to get their passports. By January next year, Nigerians will be able to complete this application process online and by February next year, in collaboration and partnership with other relevant stakeholders, Nigerians will have their passports delivered to their homes, offices and other places of their choice.
“This would of course be extended to our visa application process. We are using technology throughout the process to make it as seamless as possible. To achieve this, we have set in motion the opening of 12 more visa application centres around the world. We are also working to strengthen our visa-on-arrival policy. We are working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enforce the principle of reciprocity and a committee has been set up in the ministry to achieve this”.
He lamented that there was duplication in the registration of national identity numbers, including the BVN in the bank, the passport, the NIN and the registration of SIM cards by telecommunications companies.
Tunji-Ojo revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had given the directive for the harmonisation of the various identity numbers in the country.
He added that the integrity of travel documents would be restored through the harmonisation of data.
“Identity is who we are, what we are and what we live for. But what we have today is a duplication of our registration. We have the BVN in the bank, the passport, the NIN, the SIM card registration by the telcos and so on, all of which ask for your data. The integrity of our travel documents must be restored by harmonising our data.
“We have the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the Renewed Hope Agenda to harmonise the country’s database. If we harmonise our data, there will be an exchange between agencies so that when our people need data for passport and visa applications or BVN with their NIN, their data can be retrieved. This will not only save us stress, cost and energy, but will also help us optimise our processes and the country’s security architecture,” the minister said.
