Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, asserts that the automation of the passport application process will commence “in the next one week.”
He initially assured Nigerians of this, stating that citizens would utilise the feature from December.
In a subsequent appearance on Channel Television Tuesday’s programme, Tunji-Ojo confirmed that the technology was “99 percent done.”
“In fact, we’ve done the testing and we should be going live in the next one week or thereabout. As I said, that will ensure that Nigerians, all they need to do in an immigration center, a passport center, is just biometrics, just to take your fingerprints, that’s all,” he said.
When questioned about Nigerian nationals completing their applications from home, the minister said, “Of course!” He elaborated that this would involve uploading passport photos and supporting documents.
“We have gone beyond that. In fact, we’ve gone through it. We would have gone live about two weeks ago, but I saw some errors when they came to do a presentation, and I said, ‘You know this cannot be this,’” he explained.
“We’re talking about balancing national security as well as convenience. There must be a middle point. You cannot bring discomfort based on the enhancement of security. You must find a meeting point of both security and comfort.”
The minister also reiterated his commitment that by February 2024, all Nigerian international airports would feature e-gates.
“Once you’re Nigerian and you’re coming to Nigeria, you will have no business seeing an immigration officer, except if you’re a person of interest,” he affirmed.
