The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said it would roll out the new passport in Lagos on Tuesday.
The Comptroller General of the NIS, Muhammad Babandede, stated this on Saturday while addressing officers and men of the Lagos Command and formations.
He said the new passport would be linked and synchronised with individuals’ National Identification Number (NIN).
“Nigeria is headed for one identity for every individual; so, everyone’s identity has to be the same, from the bank to the NIN. It will be significant for our national security and development,” he said.
Babandede stated that nobody would be issued the new passport without the NIN.
“If we had done this a long time ago, it would have been easy for us to do a whole lot of other things as a nation. So now, it will be no NIN, no passport,” he added.
According to him, there are also plans for the new passport booklet, which will be in 32 and 65 pages, to be produced locally.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is looking for job security for Nigerians, so if produced locally, it will save the nation a lot of problems,” he said.
He explained that the NIS would not stop the issuance of the old passport to those who had applied as both the old and new would run concurrently until the former would be phased out completely.
The CG also warned personnel of the NIS against corruption and sharp practices.
He said they should avoid aiding and abetting service seekers in the procurement of breeder documents for NIS facilities, noting that doing so would be culpable by the Immigration Act 2015.
Babandede also called on the officers and men to comply with the Executive Order 01 on Transparency and Ease of Doing Business, stating that NIS as an elite service provider, must contribute its quota to the economic development of the country through facilitation of corrupt-free atmosphere for Direct Foreign Investment
