Abuja: The Federal Government says plans are ongoing to ensure the processing time for Nigerian passports does not exceed a week after submission of application. The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave the assurance during the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat on Thursday in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had announced a 100 percent increment of the passport fee, effective September 1, 2025. The NIS stated that the 32-page passport for five years will cost N100,000, while the 64-page booklet for ten years will be priced at N200,000.
‘Our target is very clear; within one week of enrolment, every Nigerian should have their passport in hand. Not just delivering quickly, but delivering quality passports that reflect our integrity as a nation,’ the minister said. He highlighted that the planned shortened time frame was part of the Federal Government’s reforms in the passport issuance process.
Tunji-Ojo explained that the new system was designed to eliminate long delays and extortion that once forced citizens to wait six to seven months and pay excessively for fast-track processing. The centralised personalisation centre will ensure faster processing and stricter security. ‘With this facility, we can print five times more passports than we currently need; once you enrol, it doesn’t take us more than 24 hours to vet as printing capacity is no longer our problem,’ he added.
The minister further mentioned that the inefficient system inherited by his administration, with a six-month backlog of passport applications, was cleared in two and a half weeks. He emphasized that Nigerians would no longer face endless waits or be asked to pay hundreds of thousands of Naira for passport applications.
Tunji-Ojo also stated that Passport Control Officers (PCOs) would no longer have powers to approve or delay passport applications. ‘This reform is aimed at curbing racketeering, eliminating delays, and restoring integrity to Nigeria’s travel documents. We realised that the best way to cut corruption is to remove human contact to the barest minimum. Passport approval will no longer rest in the hands of officers as my responsibility is not for them to like me, but to deliver efficiency. Let Nigerians be happy,’ he said.
He further declared that the reforms would eradicate the illegal possession of Nigerian passports by foreigners. ‘In one incident, a Ugandan woman carrying a Nigerian passport was arrested at Lagos Airport after paying $1,000 to procure it. That cannot continue as our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity,’ he declared.