BY Kunle Daramola
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, says reforms that are being carried out would enable Nigerians to change the data on their international passport online.
Speaking at a dinner with members of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (ABAT) media centre, the minister said subjecting newly-wed women to travelling to Abuja, the nation’s capital, for a change in their data is “inhumane and absurd”.
“There is one stupid thing I have seen and it is that a woman gets married, changes her name, and then she has to come to Abuja from say Kaura Namoda or Enugu just to come and effect a change of name in her passport. It is absurd,” he said.
“I can’t just figure it that you want to change just your name and you have to be in Abuja.
“I have asked the immigration people, if is it that immigration people in Abuja have more than one head than those in the states.
“With the new reforms, you don’t need to travel to Abuja to change your data. Everything will be online.
“From March, once you have ever enrolled for your passport and you are coming to renew, please don’t come to my office, stay in your house and do it.
“We have contactless biometrics and this can be done in five minutes. We don’t need to keep taking your biometrics every five years. Who does that in the world?”
Earlier today, the minister said the complete automation of passport applications will commence on January 8.
“We are good to go live. We are starting the training and on January 8, the solution will be live and direct for Nigerians,” he said.
“We have been able to reduce human contact in passport acquisition to the minimum.”
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