The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has received strong backing from the Senate for its centralised passport production system, with lawmakers saying the reform could strengthen national security, eliminate extortion and improve transparency in the issuance of Nigeria’s international travel documents.
The endorsement followed a fact-finding visit to the NIS headquarters in Abuja by a Senate delegation led by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila.
The visit was prompted by complaints from constituents and other Nigerians over the migration of passport production from Kano and some other locations, particularly in Northern Nigeria, to the central production facility in Abuja.
However, after receiving a briefing from the NIS and inspecting the production process, the delegation said it found no basis for the concerns that had generated apprehension among some Nigerians.
Kawu said the centralised system represented an important departure from the old arrangement, which he said had been associated with delays, corruption and other irregularities.
“They explained the process to us in detail, what they have achieved so far and what they are currently doing. Their objective is to adopt international best practices,” Kawu said.
The senator said the security implications of passport production made centralised control necessary, stressing that the passport remained one of the most important documents issued to Nigerian citizens.
“For our national security, we need to have a centralised system that will produce our passports. The passport is one of the most important documents for any Nigerian,” he said.
Kawu described himself as “100 per cent satisfied” with the explanations provided by the Immigration Service and pledged to communicate the outcome of the visit to his constituents and the Senate.
“I insisted that I must come here, witness the process myself and return to tell my constituents that there is no cause for alarm. We will solidly support the Nigeria Immigration Service,” he stated.
*1,000 passports produced hourly
The NIS explained that the centralised production system followed an assessment carried out in 2024, which identified the need for a more secure, uniform and accountable passport production process.
The Assistant Comptroller-General in charge of Passports and Other Travel Documents, Titilayo Olaiya, said national security was the primary consideration behind the reform.
“It started in 2024 when we assessed what we had on the ground. We realised that the main purpose of the reform was to enhance national security,” Olaiya said.
According to him, centralising production would enable the Service to monitor the entire production chain electronically, maintain uniform standards and reduce opportunities for manipulation.
“What we needed to do was come up with centralised production so that the work could be monitored and we could adopt best practices,” he said.
Olaiya disclosed that the central production facility currently has the capacity to produce about 1,000 passports every hour, which he said was sufficient to supply passport offices across the country.
“The capacity of the machines we currently have on the ground is about 1,000 passports in one hour. So, we have the capacity to supply all the branches with produced passports,” he said.
*System targets passport touts, extortion
A major justification for the reform, according to the NIS, is its potential to shut down avenues through which touts exploit passport applicants.
Olaiya recalled that under the previous arrangement, applicants were sometimes approached by touts who demanded money to accelerate their applications.
“In the past, when you got to passport offices, a tout could approach you and say that if you wanted to expedite your passport, you should bring a certain amount of money. That is no longer the case,” he said.
Under the new system, applications move electronically into central production after enrolment and approval, eliminating the need for applicants to lobby officials or pay intermediaries to influence production.
“Once an application is submitted, you will notice that it drops into the central production system. You don’t need to see anybody, and you don’t need to call anybody to expedite the process,” Olaiya stated.
He added, “Immediately a person is enrolled and their application approved, the application is sent automatically into production. We are not wasting time on that. All the bottlenecks have been removed.”
The completed passports can subsequently be dispatched through courier services to the relevant passport office or directly to applicants, depending on the delivery option selected.
The Service also dismissed claims that the migration of production from Kano and other Northern locations amounted to a policy targeted at the region.
Olaiya explained that the exercise was being implemented in phases, primarily based on the volume of passport production across different centres.
He said locations with lower production volumes were being migrated first, while busier centres were scheduled for later phases.
“That is a misconception caused by the delay and by information circulating about Ikoyi and Festac being part of Phase Five,” Olaiya said.
“The reason they fall under Phase Five is because of the volume of production. We started from locations with lower production volumes and moved towards the larger production centres.”
He stressed that centralising passport production did not mean shutting down passport offices or withdrawing services from any part of the country.
“All our passport centres are still functioning. From application submission to biometrics, all those processes are still done at the passport centres,” he said.
According to the NIS, once an application is approved at a passport centre, the applicant’s details are transmitted electronically to the Abuja production facility, where the document is produced and subsequently delivered.
The Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Visa and Residency, Dr Franca Nwanneka, who received the Senate delegation on behalf of the Comptroller-General, Kemi Nanna Nandap, said the Service had automated several aspects of its operations as part of its modernisation programme.
“We have a new regime, and we have automated a lot of our processes. We are also carrying out sensitisation,” Nwanneka said.
She acknowledged that the transition could be difficult for Nigerians accustomed to the previous system.
“Every change is difficult to implement because when people are used to a particular way of doing things and a change comes, it is difficult for them to grasp and imbibe it immediately,” she said.
Nwanneka called on lawmakers and other stakeholders to support the Service’s sensitisation efforts, particularly in educating Nigerians at the grassroots about the new process.
She disclosed that the NIS had commenced sensitisation in English, Pidgin and Hausa to explain the changes and address misconceptions.
The Service said the remaining major migration would involve Lagos and selected Nigerian diplomatic missions abroad, including locations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, before the end of the year.
*Senate seeks better support for Nigerians abroad
The Senate delegation also received complaints from Nigerians in Saudi Arabia about difficulties with passport-related matters.
Kawu urged the NIS to strengthen its intervention mechanisms for Nigerians abroad, insisting that citizens should be able to access timely assistance when faced with passport challenges.
The Service explained that it operates from the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah and periodically conducts passport intervention exercises at the Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh.
It added that Immigration Attachés were available to assist Nigerians experiencing difficulties with passport applications.
The NIS said the centralisation programme was ultimately intended to modernise passport administration, improve accountability and transparency, reduce extortion and strengthen the security of Nigeria’s international travel documents.
Kawu said the Senate would continue to support reforms that combine national security with efficient, transparent and citizen-friendly public services.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has received strong backing from the Senate for its centralised passport production system, with lawmakers saying the reform could strengthen national security, eliminate extortion and improve transparency in the issuance of Nigeria’s international travel documents.
The endorsement followed a fact-finding visit to the NIS headquarters in Abuja by a Senate delegation led by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila.
The visit was prompted by complaints from constituents and other Nigerians over the migration of passport production from Kano and some other locations, particularly in Northern Nigeria, to the central production facility in Abuja.
However, after receiving a briefing from the NIS and inspecting the production process, the delegation said it found no basis for the concerns that had generated apprehension among some Nigerians.
Kawu said the centralised system represented an important departure from the old arrangement, which he said had been associated with delays, corruption and other irregularities.
“They explained the process to us in detail, what they have achieved so far and what they are currently doing. Their objective is to adopt international best practices,” Kawu said.
The senator said the security implications of passport production made centralised control necessary, stressing that the passport remained one of the most important documents issued to Nigerian citizens.
“For our national security, we need to have a centralised system that will produce our passports. The passport is one of the most important documents for any Nigerian,” he said.
Kawu described himself as “100 per cent satisfied” with the explanations provided by the Immigration Service and pledged to communicate the outcome of the visit to his constituents and the Senate.
“I insisted that I must come here, witness the process myself and return to tell my constituents that there is no cause for alarm. We will solidly support the Nigeria Immigration Service,” he stated.
*1,000 passports produced hourly
The NIS explained that the centralised production system followed an assessment carried out in 2024, which identified the need for a more secure, uniform and accountable passport production process.
The Assistant Comptroller-General in charge of Passports and Other Travel Documents, Titilayo Olaiya, said national security was the primary consideration behind the reform.
“It started in 2024 when we assessed what we had on the ground. We realised that the main purpose of the reform was to enhance national security,” Olaiya said.
According to him, centralising production would enable the Service to monitor the entire production chain electronically, maintain uniform standards and reduce opportunities for manipulation.
“What we needed to do was come up with centralised production so that the work could be monitored and we could adopt best practices,” he said.
Olaiya disclosed that the central production facility currently has the capacity to produce about 1,000 passports every hour, which he said was sufficient to supply passport offices across the country.
“The capacity of the machines we currently have on the ground is about 1,000 passports in one hour. So, we have the capacity to supply all the branches with produced passports,” he said.
*System targets passport touts, extortion
A major justification for the reform, according to the NIS, is its potential to shut down avenues through which touts exploit passport applicants.
Olaiya recalled that under the previous arrangement, applicants were sometimes approached by touts who demanded money to accelerate their applications.
“In the past, when you got to passport offices, a tout could approach you and say that if you wanted to expedite your passport, you should bring a certain amount of money. That is no longer the case,” he said.
Under the new system, applications move electronically into central production after enrolment and approval, eliminating the need for applicants to lobby officials or pay intermediaries to influence production.
“Once an application is submitted, you will notice that it drops into the central production system. You don’t need to see anybody, and you don’t need to call anybody to expedite the process,” Olaiya stated.
He added, “Immediately a person is enrolled and their application approved, the application is sent automatically into production. We are not wasting time on that. All the bottlenecks have been removed.”
The completed passports can subsequently be dispatched through courier services to the relevant passport office or directly to applicants, depending on the delivery option selected.
The Service also dismissed claims that the migration of production from Kano and other Northern locations amounted to a policy targeted at the region.
Olaiya explained that the exercise was being implemented in phases, primarily based on the volume of passport production across different centres.
He said locations with lower production volumes were being migrated first, while busier centres were scheduled for later phases.
“That is a misconception caused by the delay and by information circulating about Ikoyi and Festac being part of Phase Five,” Olaiya said.
“The reason they fall under Phase Five is because of the volume of production. We started from locations with lower production volumes and moved towards the larger production centres.”
He stressed that centralising passport production did not mean shutting down passport offices or withdrawing services from any part of the country.
“All our passport centres are still functioning. From application submission to biometrics, all those processes are still done at the passport centres,” he said.
According to the NIS, once an application is approved at a passport centre, the applicant’s details are transmitted electronically to the Abuja production facility, where the document is produced and subsequently delivered.
The Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Visa and Residency, Dr Franca Nwanneka, who received the Senate delegation on behalf of the Comptroller-General, Kemi Nanna Nandap, said the Service had automated several aspects of its operations as part of its modernisation programme.
“We have a new regime, and we have automated a lot of our processes. We are also carrying out sensitisation,” Nwanneka said.
She acknowledged that the transition could be difficult for Nigerians accustomed to the previous system.
“Every change is difficult to implement because when people are used to a particular way of doing things and a change comes, it is difficult for them to grasp and imbibe it immediately,” she said.
Nwanneka called on lawmakers and other stakeholders to support the Service’s sensitisation efforts, particularly in educating Nigerians at the grassroots about the new process.
She disclosed that the NIS had commenced sensitisation in English, Pidgin and Hausa to explain the changes and address misconceptions.
The Service said the remaining major migration would involve Lagos and selected Nigerian diplomatic missions abroad, including locations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, before the end of the year.
*Senate seeks better support for Nigerians abroad
The Senate delegation also received complaints from Nigerians in Saudi Arabia about difficulties with passport-related matters.
Kawu urged the NIS to strengthen its intervention mechanisms for Nigerians abroad, insisting that citizens should be able to access timely assistance when faced with passport challenges.
The Service explained that it operates from the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah and periodically conducts passport intervention exercises at the Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh.
It added that Immigration Attachés were available to assist Nigerians experiencing difficulties with passport applications.
The NIS said the centralisation programme was ultimately intended to modernise passport administration, improve accountability and transparency, reduce extortion and strengthen the security of Nigeria’s international travel documents.
Kawu said the Senate would continue to support reforms that combine national security with efficient, transparent and citizen-friendly public services.
