This technological leap is part of a quiet but transformative reform by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), launched in January 2024. The fully remote, contactless application system—paired with a digital platform—aims to dismantle bureaucratic bottlenecks, cut out middlemen, and root out long-standing corruption in the passport issuance process.
While the exterior remains familiar, the overhaul marks one of the NIS's most significant modernization efforts in decades, signaling a shift toward secure, seamless identity verification for Nigerian citizens.
Yet, the most radical shift is not the passport itself, but the way Nigerians now apply for it.
Through the NIS Mobile App or the newly upgraded portal at passport.immigration.ng, citizens can complete the entire application process remotely. By logging in with a National Identification Number (NIN), uploading a digital signature, and paying a consolidated fee via NIBSS or Remita, applicants can manage everything from their smartphone. Once a QR-coded token is issued, the only physical step required is a single visit to an enrolment center for live-capture.
To decentralize production and minimize bottlenecks, personalization of passports has also been distributed to new MK-Smart machines located in Ikoyi, Enugu, Kano, Gwagwalada, and even London for diaspora Nigerians.
An Ambitious Vision Tested by Deep Challenges
Although the technology itself is not groundbreaking on a global scale, the reformed process represents a potentially transformative shift for Nigeria—if it survives entrenched corruption. Payment caps built into the new system flag illegal fees, and applicants now receive real-time SMS and email updates at every stage, theoretically removing the need for intermediaries.
Still, successful implementation depends on citizen cooperation. As NIS Controller-General Kemi Nandap stressed during a January 2 press conference, “Any officer who asks for cash outside the portal is sabotaging this reform. Nigerians must help us by saying no.”
Yet changing ingrained behaviors may be the hardest part. Analysts warn that as long as applicants still believe bribery guarantees speed, touts and insiders will continue to thrive.
Data from a 2023 BudgIT report paints a grim picture: the average applicant in Lagos reportedly visited a passport office four times before securing a booklet, often spending between ₦65,000 and ₦120,000—well above the official ₦25,000 fee. With the 2024 revision raising the standard fee to ₦50,000 and the 10-year, 64-page passport now priced at ₦100,000, eliminating corruption is more urgent than ever.
A Legacy of Frustration
Systemic failures in the old process are well documented. Chronic shortages led to three-month backlogs at major commands like Alimosho, Port Harcourt, and Kano. In the diaspora, Nigerians had to fly to distant cities like Stockholm or Dublin when embassies in London ran out of booklets. As a result, scholarship opportunities, job offers, and medical referrals were lost.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who admitted in 2023 that passport administration had become “a national embarrassment,” promised sweeping changes. By December 2024, he announced that his ministry had cleared 190,000 out of 204,000 unprinted passports without additional cost to applicants.
Nandap, appointed CG in January 2024, reinforced this new era of accountability by ordering a 48-hour processing deadline for all files and mandating that 70% of renewals migrate online by the end of the year.
However, underlying problems persist. Affidavits collected by civil-society groups such as SERAP reveal ongoing bribe demands—from “file search” fees to bogus “server charges”—ranging between ₦5,000 and ₦80,000.
Social media remains awash with grievances. On May 5, 2024, a user, @MsFeyi, lamented that despite paying the official fee in February, her status still read “awaiting booklet.” She was allegedly told by an officer that an additional ₦50,000 could expedite it.
The Anatomy of Bottlenecks
Why do such inefficiencies persist in a country that supplies tech talent to Silicon Valley? Insiders cite five recurring issues: artificial scarcity, server downtime, opaque tracking, diaspora delays, and multiple unofficial fees.
At a visit to the Ikoyi office, a source within the NIS described how booklets are sometimes deliberately withheld until "facilitation fees" are paid. Portal downtimes due to high traffic often force manual processing, reintroducing touts into what was designed to be a fully digital system.
“For those who refuse to bribe, it’s common to endure two or three months of repeated office visits before getting a passport," the insider admitted.
Building a Digital Backbone
The stakes for reform go beyond mere convenience. Nigeria’s new contactless passport forms a critical piece of the country’s broader digital public infrastructure strategy.
By anchoring the passport to the National Identity Number (NIN)—which is linked to credit bureaus, mobile SIM registries, and banking systems—Nigeria aims to create a singular, verifiable identity that streamlines services from health insurance enrollment to banking.
Technology governance expert Yemi Oke likens this effort to India’s Aadhaar programme, which, since its launch in 2010, has enabled over 1.3 billion Indians to access services with a single digital identity.
“Nigeria’s contactless passport, if fully integrated, could eliminate ghost beneficiaries in welfare programs and revolutionize service delivery,” Oke explained.
Moreover, in the diaspora, personalization machines installed at high-volume missions could cut wait times for renewals, emergency travel certificates, and legal document authentication from months to mere hours.
From Touts to Trust
India’s Aadhaar success hinged on mandatory adoption across banking, telecoms, and welfare sectors, backed by strong grievance mechanisms. Nigeria’s e-passport will need a similar ecosystem to truly end the era of form-middlemen and unofficial charges.
Publishing weekly production stats, sanctioning corrupt officials, and maintaining a toll-free complaint hotline are some steps proposed by civil society groups like BudgIT and SERAP to safeguard the gains.
Citizens, too, have a role to play—by applying only through official channels, refusing to pay cash bribes, and demanding e-receipts.
The Cost of Failure
The stakes are high. A 2023 SBM Intelligence poll found that 47% of Nigerians deferred international education or employment due to passport delays, while 19% missed critical visa appointments. For a country whose diaspora remittances were worth $20 billion in 2022, passport dysfunction is not just a bureaucratic nuisance—it’s an economic threat.
At home, the reputational cost is even sharper. Nigerian travelers like Eniola Akinyemi recount the embarrassment of explaining passport delays to international partners who secured theirs in days, not months.
Tentative Optimism
Despite lingering queues outside Ikoyi and other commands, there is a cautious optimism. For the first time, there is a credible vision for how the green passport can shed its reputation for delay and dysfunction.
If sustained, Nigeria’s e-passport reform could unlock not just smoother travel but a broader digital economy where identity is verified at the speed of light—and without a bribe in sight.
The little green booklet may soon carry not just a chip, but a future.