From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has dismissed reports suggesting that a particular region of the country has been barred from passport issuance as false and misleading.
The Service assured Nigerians on Saturday, February 7, 2026, that no citizen has been excluded under its ongoing reform programme.
The Service Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller of Immigration A.S. Akinlabi, described the claims as baseless and a gross distortion of the Federal Government’s reforms.
He stressed that the initiative is aimed at modernising passport administration across the country to improve efficiency, security, and integrity, rather than disenfranchising any section of the country.
According to the NIS, the Service is implementing a phased onboarding system to migrate passport offices, including those in Nigerian foreign missions, to a centralised production framework.
This modernisation exercise, which commenced in 2024 under the leadership of Comptroller General Kemi Nandap, is intended to standardise operations and enhance service delivery nationwide.
The Service disclosed that passport offices in the North-East and North-Central states of Borno, Yobe, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau have already been successfully onboarded.
Additionally, 35 international passport processing centres across Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America are now operating under the new system.
The NIS further revealed that the scheduled migration of passport offices in the South-East states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, as well as five additional international stations in Italy, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria, is currently ongoing. These are expected to be fully integrated into the new framework within the first quarter of 2026.
To ensure a seamless transition, the NIS stated it has adopted a strict work-plan calendar aimed at preventing disruptions to passport issuance timelines.
The Service urged members of the public to disregard speculative narratives capable of creating unnecessary tension, reaffirming its commitment to equitable service delivery and national interest.
