Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, proclaimed the initiation of passport home delivery scheduled to commence in June.
This declaration was made on May 24 while inspecting the electronic gates at the new terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, where Tunji-Ojo specified that the service’s implementation will be phased in select locations to prevent system overload.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) is set to introduce the passport home delivery service in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Abuja.
Furthermore, for Nigerians residing outside the country, the service will be inaugurated in the United States and the United Kingdom, with preliminary trials conducted to ascertain its efficacy.
Tunji-Ojo elaborated that the delay in rolling out the home delivery service was primarily attributed to the absence of dedicated data centers.
While the NIS had previously depended on a private company’s data center, a more permanent solution was deemed necessary to uphold 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,” Tunji-Ojo stated.
“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.”
Tunji-Ojo also expressed disappointment that despite being 61 years old, the NIS, responsible for Nigeria’s biometric data, does not yet have full control over the country’s data.
