The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has announced that the federal government is completing plans to launch an online system in May that would track passport applications in Nigeria.
Driving the news
The Minister pledged that in less than 1 month the process of passport application in Nigeria would be completely digitized. This digital solution would inform applicants of passport pick up dates, track application status, and notify applicants of any issues, amongst many other functions.
What he’s saying
Rauf Aregbesola assured Nigerians that along with digitizing passport applications in Nigeria, the process would be faster than ever. He added that the waiting time for collecting new applications should be no more than six weeks, while renewing passports should be three weeks.
- The Minister also warned immigration officials against maltreating applicants or engaging in any form of misconduct.
Current situation
The application process for getting a passport in Nigeria is a rigorous one that involves meticulous filing of documents, physical interviewing of applicants, long response time and much more. Although this process has proven to be efficient for many years, the federal government has incorporated technology to have a faster, easy and more effective application process.
Bottom line
The Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, processed 2.7 million passports from 2019 to 2021 with a record of 1.6 million in 2021 alone. With the increase in passport applications, the technology proposed by the federal government would enable NIS to meet the demand.