The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has clarified that the ongoing implementation of its Passport Centralization Reform is strictly an operational initiative and will not affect passport processing and issuance at any passport office across Nigeria or at designated Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad.
In a statement signed by the Service Public Relations Officer, DCI Akinsola Akinlabi, the Service said the clarification became necessary following public enquiries and misconceptions arising from the phased migration of passport production from passport offices across the country’s six geopolitical zones to the Central Personalization Centre at the NIS Headquarters, Abuja.
According to Akinlabi, the migration of passport production to the Central Personalization Centre is purely operational and does not in any way stop the processing and issuance of passports at any passport office within the country or at designated Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad.
He explained that the reform forms part of a broader modernization programme aimed at strengthening the security, integrity and efficiency of Nigeria’s passport issuance system.
The Service explained that the reform is being implemented through a five-phase migration plan for onboarding passport offices within Nigeria and designated Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad.
The phased implementation, it noted, is designed to minimize operational risks, prevent service disruption and ensure scalability.
According to the implementation schedule, Phase One, completed in January 2025, covered passport offices in the North Central zone, including Plateau (Jos), Benue (Makurdi), Niger (Minna), Nasarawa (Lafia) and Kogi (Lokoja), as well as the North East offices in Borno (Maiduguri) and Yobe (Damaturu).
The first phase also onboarded 12 African missions in Côte d’Ivoire (Abidjan), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), Egypt (Cairo), Senegal (Dakar), South Africa (Johannesburg), Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Cameroon (Douala), Liberia (Monrovia), Benin (Cotonou), Uganda (Kampala), Kenya (Nairobi) and Sudan (Khartoum).
Also included were four Middle East missions in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi), Türkiye (Ankara), Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) and Israel (Tel Aviv); four European missions in Ireland (Dublin), Ukraine (Kyiv), Russia (Moscow) and Sweden (Stockholm); seven Asian missions in Thailand (Bangkok), China (Beijing), Hong Kong, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), India (New Delhi), South Korea (Seoul) and Japan (Tokyo); two missions in the Americas—Brazil (Brasilia) and Jamaica (Kingston); and Australia’s Canberra mission representing Oceania.
The Service said Phase One covered a total of 37 centres, comprising seven local passport offices and 30 foreign missions.
Phase Two, completed in March 2026, onboarded passport offices in the South East, including Enugu, Anambra (Awka), Imo (Owerri), Abia (Umuahia) and Ebonyi (Abakaliki); the North Central office in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory; and South West offices in Oyo (Ibadan and Oyo), Ogun (Abeokuta and Sagamu), and Kwara (Ilorin and Offa).
The phase also included five European missions in Italy (Rome), Greece (Athens), Spain (Madrid), Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland (Berne), bringing the total to 17 centres, comprising 12 local offices and five foreign missions.
The NIS further disclosed that Phase Three, completed in June 2026, covered South South offices in Edo (Benin and Auchi) and Delta (Asaba and Warri); North West offices in Sokoto, Kebbi (Birnin Kebbi), Zamfara (Gusau), Katsina (Katsina and Daura), Jigawa (Dutse) and Kaduna (Kaduna and Zaria); as well as South West offices in Osun (Osogbo and Ilesha), Ondo (Akure and Ile Oluji) and Ekiti (Ado Ekiti).
The third phase also included European missions in France (Paris), Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt), Belgium (Brussels) and the Netherlands (The Hague), covering a total of 22 centres, made up of 17 local offices and five foreign missions.
According to the Service, Phase Four, scheduled for August 2026, covers passport offices in the North East, including Gombe (Gombe), Adamawa (Yola), Taraba (Jalingo) and Bauchi (Bauchi); the North West, covering Kano (Kano and Dawakin Kudu); and the South South, comprising Rivers (Port Harcourt), Cross River (Calabar), Akwa Ibom (Uyo) and Bayelsa (Yenagoa). The phase consists of 10 local centres with no foreign missions.
The Service added that Phase Five, scheduled to be completed by the last quarter of 2026, will onboard five passport offices in Lagos State—Ikoyi, Festac, Alausa, Alimosho and Ikorodu—as well as Nigerian missions in the United States (New York, Atlanta and Washington DC), the United Kingdom and Canada, bringing the phase total to 10 centres, comprising five local offices and five foreign missions.
Akinlabi explained that under the new operational framework, all passport booklet printing and security personalization have been consolidated into a secure, centralized and high-capacity production hub at the Service Headquarters in Abuja.
He said the arrangement ensures that passports are produced centrally and dispatched to passport offices across the country and the diaspora within a two-week timeframe, while passport offices nationwide and designated Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad continue to function as passport processing and issuance centres.
According to him, the reforms eliminate manual intervention in the passport personalization process, remove document arbitrage, enhance accountability and guarantee uniform quality standards, including advanced security features embedded in every Nigerian passport.
He therefore urged applicants to continue accessing passport services at their preferred passport offices as usual, assuring Nigerians that the reform is designed to improve efficiency, strengthen security and enhance service delivery rather than restrict access to passport services.
The Nigeria Immigration Service reaffirmed its commitment to deploying technology-driven solutions that improve service delivery while safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s passport system in line with international best practices.
