Nigeria Achieves Milestone: 5,000 Passports Processed in 5 Hours – Tunji-Ojo

Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced a groundbreaking achievement by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). For the first time in the nation’s history spanning over six decades, the NIS has developed the capacity to deliver between 4,500 and 5,000 passports within just five hours.

This revelation was made on Thursday after the Minister conducted an inspection of the newly constructed Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre located at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.

According to Tunji-Ojo, this milestone marks a huge leap in efficiency compared to the old system, where the agency could only personalise 250 to 300 passports in an entire day. With the cutting-edge infrastructure now in place, the NIS can handle over 1,000 passports every single hour, a record-breaking upgrade for the country’s immigration service.

“Earlier today, alongside the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, and the Comptroller General of NIS, Kemi Nanna Nandap, I visited the new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the Service’s headquarters. With this modernised investment, which came at no additional cost to the government, NIS can now deliver results faster than ever before,” Tunji-Ojo explained.

The Minister further emphasised that this centralised system has officially ended the era of producing Nigerian passports at multiple centres across the globe, which often caused delays, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies.

He described the development as a landmark achievement in the 62-year history of the Immigration Service, stressing that the new structure reflects the government’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and efficiency in public service delivery.

With this advancement, Nigerians at home and abroad are expected to benefit from faster passport processing, reduced backlogs, and more reliable service delivery. This move is also in line with global best practices, ensuring Nigeria is taking significant steps toward aligning its immigration processes with modern technology.

For more context, efficiency in passport production plays a crucial role in national security, diaspora engagement, and international travel credibility, as highlighted by global institutions like the International Organization for Migration (IOM).