The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Thursday, September 18, 2025, unveiled a centralised passport centre said to be capable of producing up to 5,000 passports every day.
This is said to be a massive jump from the current 250–300 passports produced per day in Nigeria.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the development on Thursday during an inspection of the new Centralised Passport Centre at the NIS headquarters in Abuja.
He described it as a game-changing reform for passport processing in Nigeria.
He noted that: “Nigeria is now in the league of countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, India, and Bangladesh that run centralised passport personalisation centres.
“This is a big win for the government and a major shift towards efficiency and reliability.
“For the first time in 62 years, NIS is operating a single central passport production hub. This project is 100 per cent ready, and it will allow Nigeria to be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services.”
With the new facility, the Minister boasted that the NIS can now meet daily passport demands within four to five hours of operation.
He added that the new centralised passport centre would significantly cut down processing delays, bringing the country closer to achieving its goal of one-week passport delivery.
He also revealed that the new facility, built in partnership with IRISMAT Technologies Limited, deploys advanced machines capable of producing up to 1,000 passports per hour.
“We promised two-week delivery, but with automation and optimisation, we are now pushing for one week.
“This centre puts an end to the era of backlogs and delays. When this administration came on board, we inherited over 204,000 pending applications. That chapter is now closed. Everything is automated and efficient, ensuring Nigerians get value for their money,” he added.
The minister also highlighted other key reforms achieved under the current administration to include: Migration to a single passport series – eliminating the old dual “A and B” series system to strengthen document integrity; Diaspora coverage – ensuring all missions abroad now issue the enhanced B-series passport; Global authentication compliance, which means Nigeria has been fully integrated into the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)‘s Public Key Directory (PKD), boosting international acceptance of its travel documents.
According to him, “These reforms ensure that no two Nigerians carry different passport types, enhance global trust in our documents, and position Nigeria as a serious player in global travel systems.”
Tunji-Ojo emphasised that the centralised production system is a step toward driving efficiency and improving service delivery for Nigerians, both at home and abroad.
“This is more than just about documents; it’s about restoring trust and showing Nigerians that their government can deliver effectively,” he said.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that this comes after the NIS increased the cost of the Nigerian international passport from N50,000 to N100,000 for a 32-page passport with 5-year validity.
According to the Service, a 64-page passport with 10-year validity will now cost N200,000, a 100% increase from the current N100,000 fee. The increment took effect from September 1, 2025.
