The Nigeria Immigration Service has issued the 10-year passport embedded with the National Identity Number to over 20,000 booklets to applicants in Abuja and Lagos.
The NIS also said it had resolved the challenges of multiple identities by applicants, saying the new e-passport would soon be rolled out in Kano and London.
Disclosing this in Abuja on Friday shortly after decorating four Deputy Comptrollers-General of Immigration with their new ranks, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede, said the new booklet was expected to replace the old one in due course.
He said, “We have already rolled out in two stations in Abuja and Ikoyi, Lagos. The next will be Kano, and then followed by London. At the beginning, we had challenges because Nigerians didn’t understand.
“Some of them had different names in the National Identity Number database, and when you link it, you find a lot of problems because the passport could not be issued.
“The challenge is that Nigerians don’t care about their identity, but now, they realised they need to have only one identity. We have issued over 20,000 in Abuja and Lagos, we will continue to issue in all commands and formations. Gradually, it will replace the old one, but the old one will continue to work concurrently with the new passport.”
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