Nigeria Immigration Denies report on Passport Issuance Ban
Last update: February 7, 2026
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The NIS says no part of Nigeria has been excluded from passport issuance....
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Saturday dismissed as false an online report alleging that a region of the country had been disqualified from passport issuance.
In a statement, the Service Public Relations Officer, Akinsola Akinlabi, described the report as baseless and a misrepresentation of ongoing government reforms to modernise passport administration.
He said no part of Nigeria had been excluded from passport issuance, adding that the reforms were aimed at improving efficiency, integrity and security in passport production nationwide.
Akinlabi said the NIS had introduced a phased onboarding system to migrate passport offices, including those at Nigerian foreign missions, to a centralised passport production framework.
The modernisation process, which began in 2024, was intended to enhance service delivery and protect the credibility of Nigeria’s passport system, he said.
He said passport offices in the North-East and North-Central zones, including those in Borno, Yobe, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau states, had already been integrated into the centralised system.
Akinlabi added that 35 international passport offices across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America had also been fully onboarded.
He said the migration of passport offices in the South-East was ongoing in the first quarter of 2026, covering Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, along with additional international offices in Italy, Greece, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.
Akinlabi said a strict work-plan calendar had been put in place to prevent disruptions to passport delivery timelines during the transition.
He urged the public to disregard speculative reports capable of causing tension, reaffirming the service’s commitment to equitable access and efficient passport administration nationwide.
