The issuance of Nigerian Passport with 10 years validity, will commence in December, 2018 as confirmed by Mr Mohammed Babandede, Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
The Immigration boss, who was in Ibadan alongside other senior officials for the first International Conference on Border In-Transition at the University of Ibadan, made the disclosure when he visited Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Monday in Ibadan.
Babandede who said the Nigerian passport with 10-year validity would have features that could stand the test of time, added that it would run concurrently with the old ones.
“We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the new passport with 10 years validity.
“We have also repositioned and improved on our services as directed by the president,” he said.
He added that the NIS had also improved accessibility to visa through the introduction of Visa-on-Arrival, for immigrants whose country was without an embassy.
“We have initiated the centralization of Temporary Work Permit for immigrants who are in the country for a temporary assignment as well as made it easy for women to do change of name across the states.
“We have also introduced forward-front-border patrol to curtail activities of smugglers and criminals within the border areas.
“We will continue to ensure adequate security of the border and country at large,” he said.