The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced that Nigerians will have their passport delivered to their homes, offices, and other locations of their choice from February 2024.

Tunji-Ojo while speaking on Monday at the opening ceremony of the International Week of the University Of Lagos, titled, ‘Breaking the Borders of Partnership,’ said that by January next year, Nigerians would be able to complete the application process online.

He said, “We have commenced the automation of our end-to-end passport application process, and we have given a timeline from which Nigerians will begin to experience the “sweet experience.”

“By implication, Nigerians will not need to wait longer than two weeks before they get their passport. By January next year, Nigerians will be able to complete this application process online, and by February next year, with collaboration and partnership with other relevant stakeholders, Nigerians will have their passports delivered to their homes, offices, and other locations of their choice.

“This, of course, would be extended to our visa application process. We are deploying technology throughout the entire process to make it as seamless as possible. To achieve this, we have set everything into motion to open 12 more visa application centers across the world. In this regard, we are also working on strengthening our visa-on-arrival policy.”

Meanwhile, he lamented that there was a duplication of registration of country identity numbers including the BVN in the bank, the international passport, the NIN, and SIM card registration by telecos.

Tunji-Ojo revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had given the directive for the harmonization of the various identity numbers in the country.

He added that the integrity of travel documents would be restored through the harmonization of data.

“Identity is who we are, what we are, and what we live for. But today, what we have is a duplication of our registration. We have the BVN in the bank, the international passport, the NIN, SIM card registration by telcos, and so on, all of which request your data. The integrity of our travel documents must be restored through the harmonization of our data,” he added.