Nigeria has ended 62 years of decentralised passport production, moving all passport printing to a central facility at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja, with daily production capacity rising to between 4,500 and 5,000 passports.
The new arrangement replaces a system that produced an estimated 250 to 300 passports daily, representing a substantial increase in processing capacity. Under the new system, applicants are expected to receive their passports within one week.
The centralisation marks a major change in how Nigeria produces travel documents, with the authorities seeking to improve output and reduce delays that can disrupt travel plans for citizens who need passports for work, education, business and other international engagements.
According to Brandspur Brand News, the Centralised Personalisation Centre at the NIS headquarters in Abuja will now handle passport production, ending the previous decentralised arrangement that had been in place for more than six decades.
The increase in daily capacity could help the service handle a greater volume of applications and improve its ability to meet demand. Previously, production levels of 250 to 300 passports per day limited the number of documents that could be produced within a given period.
With the new facility expected to produce as many as 5,000 passports daily, the service has set a one-week delivery target for applicants.
However, meeting that timeline will depend on how efficiently applications move through the entire process, from submission and verification to approval, personalisation and collection. Increased printing capacity alone does not establish how quickly every applicant will receive a passport.
For Nigerians preparing to travel, the promised delivery period will be an important measure of whether the new arrangement delivers practical improvements. Delays in obtaining travel documents can complicate plans for international trips, including journeys for employment, education and urgent personal commitments.
The centralised system therefore places greater emphasis on the capacity of the Abuja facility to manage passport production at scale while maintaining timely delivery to applicants across the country.
