The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has reassured Nigerians that there will be no delays in the issuance of international passports, as over 80,000 passport booklets are currently in reserve. Speaking during a media briefing in Abuja on Friday, the minister emphasized that passport booklet stock levels have not dropped below 50,000 in recent times.
Tunji-Ojo also confirmed that all previous backlogs of passport applications have been cleared, and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has settled its obligations to service providers responsible for the printing and supply of passports.
“We now have about 80,000 passports in stock, both in 32-page and 70-page formats,” the minister said, offering further reassurance.
Addressing concerns from Nigerians living abroad, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, Tunji-Ojo announced that, by October, passport acquisition processes will be significantly streamlined. The government is set to launch an Automated Application System, allowing Nigerians in the diaspora to apply for passports without the need for inter-country travel.
“Nigerians in the diaspora will no longer have to endure long journeys, waste valuable resources, or risk their lives for passport acquisition. With our new systems, they can now access services more efficiently,” he explained.
Tunji-Ojo cited an example from London, where 16,000 passport applications overwhelmed a system designed to process only 200 per day. The new automated system is expected to resolve such bottlenecks, he noted.
On the recent increase in passport fees, the minister clarified that it was driven by exchange rate fluctuations and cost considerations. He emphasized that the adjustment—approximately a 45% increase—only affects passport fees within Nigeria, raising the cost from ₦35,000 to ₦50,000.
“The government is not exploiting Nigerians,” Tunji-Ojo stressed. “If anything, the increase is to cover the cost of passport procurement, and there has been no change to passport fees outside Nigeria.”
The Minister concluded by noting that subsidies on passports are not a priority for the government, underscoring the need for the fee adjustment based on economic realities.
