Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, announced that home delivery of passports will commence in June.
Tunji-Ojo made this announcement on May 24 during an inspection of the electronic gates at the new terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
He clarified that the home delivery service will initially be available only in specific locations to prevent overloading the system.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) will roll out this service in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Abuja.
For Nigerians living abroad, the service will first be introduced in the United States and the United Kingdom, with initial testing to ensure its effectiveness.
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The minister explained that the delay in starting home delivery was due to the lack of data centers. The NIS had been relying on a private company’s data center but needed a permanent solution to maintain data integrity and national security.
“We have completed the entire solution, but when we assumed office, we realized that a dedicated data center was not in place,” said Tunji-Ojo.
“We were using a private company’s data center, and while we appreciate their assistance, we believe it’s crucial to establish a permanent solution rather than opting for quick fixes.
Although we could have launched in February, we chose to build our data center from scratch to ensure the integrity of our data and national security.”
He further expressed disappointment that despite being 61 years old, the NIS, which is responsible for Nigeria’s biometric data, does not yet have full control over the country’s data.
