FG Promises One-Week Passport Delivery With New Reforms

The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that they will now receive their passports within one week of enrolment, following sweeping reforms in the country’s passport issuance system.

Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja during the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat.

“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 declared.

He explained that the reforms were introduced to end the long delays and extortion that once plagued the process. According to him, citizens used to wait as long as six to seven months or pay between ₦200,000 and ₦250,000 to fast-track processing.

“The system that we inherited, which had six months of backlog, which we were able to clear in two and a half weeks, that system that was inefficient, Nigerians will apply for a passport, it will take six to seven months to get it, a system that, for a passport, you need to pay ₦200,000 to ₦250,000, that system we inherited was inefficient.

“My own daughter had that bad experience. Even when I was chairman of the House Committee on the NDDC, my daughter wanted a passport, but it was a problem. I had to pay hundreds of thousands to be able to get a passport for my daughter, a 12-year-old girl. That era is over,” Tunji-Ojo said.

The minister disclosed that a new centralised personalisation centre, described as the largest in Africa, would guarantee faster processing and stronger 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. Printing capacity is no longer our problem,” he said.

As part of the reform, he announced that passport control officers would no longer have the power to approve or delay applications.

“Some PCOs had so much power that they could decide not to approve or not to print a passport until they were settled. That abuse of power ends now,” the minister stated.

He explained that centralising approval would prevent racketeering, eliminate unnecessary delays, and restore public trust in 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 with PCOs. My responsibility is not for them to like me — it is to deliver efficiency. Let Nigerians be happy.

“My responsibility is not just to make passports available, but to ensure that anybody carrying it is a Nigerian. If you are not a Nigerian, you cannot carry it. It’s about our national integrity,” Tunji-Ojo said.

The minister also cited past cases where foreigners illegally obtained Nigerian passports, noting that new vetting measures would block such abuses.

“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. Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity,” he added.