The federal government has launched the enhanced e-passport
and a passport production centre for Nigerians in Canada.
Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, said Nigeria is among
the first five countries worldwide and the first in Africa to have the enhanced
passport.
In a statement on Thursday, Aregbesola said the passport
comes with “additional” security.
“It’s a product of the latest technology in passport
administration and issuance. Only very few countries in the world can boast of
it as of today,” he said.
“Indeed, Nigeria is among the first five countries in the
world and the first in Africa to have this enhanced e-passport. The document is
of higher grade with additional 25 security features than the one currently in
use. It is polycarbonate in design and therefore water-resistant.
“Nigerian citizenship should count in everything and
Nigerians should experience no discomfort or any stress in the course of doing
business with any government agency. Validating their identities through the
passport should therefore be seamless.”
The minister said the passport launch was a result of a
directive from President Muhammadu Buhari to engender citizenship integrity as
Nigerian nationals, without it, would be classified as “stateless”.
He asked all applicants to go through the Nigeria
Immigration Service (NIS) portal and follow due process as “there is no
wait-and-get passport service anywhere in the world”.
“It is important that all applicants go through the Nigeria
Immigration Service portal and follow the protocol laid down, pay the right fee
and go for biometric data capture on the stipulated date. There is no
wait-and-get passport service anywhere in the world,” Aregbesola said.
“The waiting period after data capture for fresh application
is 6 weeks and 3 weeks for renewal. This timeline is to enable @nigimmigration
verify claims of applicants and confer integrity on the passport issued. It is
a reasonable provision in passport administration by global standards.
“It is important also that your details with NIN sync with
the data on your application. Any discrepancy will stall your application until
it is corrected. The order of the appearance of the applicant’s name especially
has been an albatross for many.
“We have introduced
tracking mechanism in the application process, to enable applicants monitor the
progress of their application. We shall continue to introduce necessary and
available innovations to passport administration in order to best serve
applicants.”
In October, Aregbesola had said the full digitisation of
passport processing would be completed by December 2022.
Complete digitisation, he said, would eliminate any form of
contact between passport applicants and immigration officers, as well as reduce
corruption in the system.
“We are on it, and by December we will remove any manual
processing of passports,” the minister had said.
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