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The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said that the promised automation of the passport application process will kick off “in the next one week”.
Tunji-Ojo made this known in a follow-up appearance in an interview on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today where he said that the technology was “99 percent done”.
He had earlier assured Nigerians during an interview on Channels Television on October 4, 2023 that the feature would ‘go live’ as from December.
“In fact, we have done the testing and we should be going live in the next one week or thereabout,” he said.
“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.”
The Interior Minister further gave an assurance that Nigerian nationals can indeed to complete their application from the comfort of their homes once the Automated Passport Application takes effect.
Tunji-Ojo said “Of course!” and that the process would include uploading passport photos and their supporting documents.
“We have gone beyond that. In fact, we have gone through it. We would have gone live about two weeks ago,” he said.
“However, I saw some errors when they came to do a presentation and I said, ‘You know this cannot be this’.
“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.”
According to him, all Nigerian international airports would have e-gates by February 2024, restating what he had said a few months ago.
He added that once one is a Nigerian and one is coming back to the country, there will be no business seeing an immigration officer, except if such is a person of interest.
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