Voice Air Media, News Update
The Federal Government has clarified the new conditions it set for those desire to acquire new international passport.
The clarifications were made by the minister for Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who was responding to questions from journalists.
The minister said the new conditions for obtaining or renewing international passport in Nigeria were informed by the need to curb the acquisition of the document by non-citizens.
He described Nigeria’s international passports as a security document exclusive to Nigerian citizens, and that was need to protect it.
He mentioned the new conditions to include the provision of a citizenship certificate, a date of birth certificate, and the National Identification Number (NIN).
According ot the minister, the above items have become critical in verifying an applicant’s true citizenship.
“We have to introduce this new system in order to stop those non-Nigerians carrying Nigerian passports. Contrary to reports, the new process is working very effectively, and the hiccups recorded are only 4 per cent, which is a significant improvement for a system that is newly introduced, and I assure you that in the next one or two weeks we will have a near-perfect system.
“We have to improve our process of obtaining passports because a passport is a security document. This new system has improved accessibility, transparency, and efficiency,” the minister stated.
According to him, the new conditions would prevent non-Nigerians from acquiring the passport, disclosing that foreigners have exploited the inefficiencies of the previous system.
Tunji-Ojo said the reform was aimed at simplifying the passport acquisition process for Nigerians by facilitating speedy online application, production, and passport collection.
He reiterated the commitment of the federal government to implementing a contact-less biometric capture principle of renewing of the international passport, Looking ahead, the Minister outlined plans for contactless biometrics in passport saying it was part bid of making things better for Nigerians.
“We are building a future for Nigerians where things should be done in a better way. We changed the price of the five-year passport because the 10-year passport is N70,000; so, the one for five years should be half of that amount, which is N35,000. We are committed to making things better in our country,” the minister said.