The anticipated automation of the passport application process, according to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, will commence “within the next one week.”
Tunji-Ojo first assured Nigerians in an October 4 interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today that the automation will be available in December.
He returned to the show on Tuesday, Nov. 28, to announce that the technology was “99 per cent completed.”
He said: “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 centre, a passport centre, is just biometrics, just to take your fingerprints, that’s all.”
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Tunji-Ojo responded, “Of course!” when asked if Nigerian nationals would be allowed to finish their applications from the comfort of their homes.
According to him, this would entail uploading passport images and accompanying documentation.
“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 said.
“We’re talking about balancing national security as well as convenience. There must be a middle point. You cannot bring discomfort on the basis of enhancement of security. You must find a meeting point of both security and comfort.”
The minister also reiterated his commitment to installing e-gates at all Nigerian international airports by February 2024.
“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 said.