The Federal Government said that the full digitization of Nigerian passport The proceedings will be completed in December this year.
This comes at a time when there are many complaints among Nigerians over the incessant delays in obtaining Nigerian passports both within and outside the country.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola while appearing at a NAN Forum in Abuja.
According to Aregbesola the completion of the full digitalization project will completely eliminate any form of contact between passport applicants and immigration officials as well as the inherent corruption in the system.
What the Minister of Interior said
Aregbesola said the project is one of the priorities of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “We are on it, and in December we will remove any manual processing of passports. Now, we still have some manual parts, because the files are opened manually.
“By December, especially in the busiest passport processing centers, there will be no more manual parts of passport processing, every part of it will be digitized.”
The minister said there is no shortage of passport booklets in the country and advised applicants to start processing their passports at least six months before the scheduled time of travel.
He said, “If you need a passport now, start the process very early, don’t start processing efforts two weeks before your trip.
“If you don’t do it, you’ve created problems for yourself, because the system, after getting it, which is to enroll your data, we harmonize it with the database of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).’ ‘
Aregbesola also urged passport applicants to ensure that their names and other information match their details in the National Identity database.
He said, “Each identification document should be the same to facilitate retrieval,” he said, adding that even the wrong order of names can create delays in processing a passport.
“You have to understand what it is. It is a presidential order that the new passport regime must have all the data and everything about you as an individual must be the same and compatible.
“What you have in your passport, which is the most secure identity document, must be the same in all aspects of you, whether in the bank or in the national identity database..
“When you come to us to register, after filling out your form online, you go for data extraction, and what you do there is harmonize what you filed in your form and your bio-data as we progress.
“So if your name doesn’t match what we have, your data information doesn’t match the relevant platforms, we have some challenges processing the passport.”
What you should know
- The processes of securing a Nigerian passport are fraught with challenges from lack of booklets to louting, with an economy of corruption built around it.
- In a related development, recall that in November 2021, the Federal Government announced the launch of an improved e-passport, which they said would improve the passport application process for Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora.
- The improved e-Passport is a major advancement in the Biometric Passport technology that Nigeria adopted in 2007 with the Federal Government realizing that technology rules the world and keeping up with the latest developments in the field.