It said although it welcomed the ranking, it is more
concerned with Nigerian passport’s compliance with the global standards of the
International Civil Aviation Organisation.
According to details obtained from Henley & Partners, a
London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, the passport index
published quarterly is based on exclusive data from the International Air
Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest database of travel
information.
The recently published Q1 2022 index cross-examined the
passports of 199 countries with 227 travel destinations; and ranked these
passports based on global access and mobility.
Each passport is scored based on the number of destinations
that the holder can access visa-free. This also applies if passport holders can
obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority
upon entry.
Japan and Singapore topped the ranks with passports gaining
access to 192 countries. The United States and the United Kingdom ranked
seventh while Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan settled at the
bottom five.
Despite emerging 28th globally, the Seychellois passport
ranked the highest in Africa, having visa-free access to 152 countries.
Botswana and Namibia ranked second and third with 86 and 78 countries,
respectively.
Malawi (76th), Niger (90th), Chad (90th) The Gambia (75th),
Uganda (76th), Zimbabwe (78th) and Sierra Leone (80th) all ranked above Nigeria
and Ethiopia, which tallied at 98th. Despite Nigeria’s position on the list, it
rose five places compared to the Q4 2021.
Reacting to the report, the spokesperson of the Nigeria
Immigration Service, Amos Okpo, argued that visa-free mobility is largely a
reflection of bilateral agreements between countries and within regional blocs.
Speaking with our correspondent on Tuesday, he said, “While
we appreciate the work done by Henley & Partners, we are more concerned
with deepening our passport technology to meet up with the standards of the
ICAO; ensuring that our passport complies with ICAO guidelines.”
Okpo argued that Nigeria has been a Public Key Directory of
the ICAO since April 2009 and, therefore, sits in a respectable position in the
comity of nations.
According to the ICAO, “the Public Key Directory is a
central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate
electronic Machine-Readable Travel Documents such as e-Passports, electronic ID
cards and Visible Digital Seals.”
The directory which acts as a central broker for this
information ensures that information adheres to the technical standards
required to achieve and maintain interoperability.
Asserting NIS’ position on Henley’s ranking, Okpo said,
“What we put more emphasis on here is our standing in the ICAO. When ICAO
alerts us of any lapses with our passports, we get to work. Nigeria has been
part of the Public Key Directory since 2009 and it took us complying with
several passport security specifications to be reflected on that directory.
“This (Henley & Partners) ranking is based on passport
admissibility. And that is largely a function of mutual understanding,
reciprocity among countries which does not necessarily reflect the true
strength of a passport. A good example is the European Union and the ECOWAS,”
he said.
He also noted that when Nigeria joined the ICAO’s PKD, there
were only 13 member states; New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan,
Canada, the United States of America, Germany, the Republic of Korea, France,
China, Kazahkstan and India.
So far, the directory has 82 participant countries, with
Mongolia joining in December 2021.