Nigeria passport centralisation reform denied as marginalisation claim by student body

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) rejected allegations that the federal government's passport centralisation programme is intended to marginalise Northern Nigeria. NANS said the reform, overseen by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), is a nationwide effort to improve security, efficiency and service delivery, with production moved to a Central Personalisation Centre in Abuja. The migration is being carried out in four phases from February 2025 to August 2026, covering passport offices across all geopolitical zones and several Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad.

The NIS also clarified that the recent directive to shift ten passport production centres, including those in Kano, does not suspend passport services. Applicants can still enrol and capture biometric data at local centres, while passport booklets will be printed centrally and dispatched back to the local offices. The circular, dated August 3, 2026, sets the migration to take effect on August 10, 2026, and lists the affected centres in Kano, Gombe, Jalingo, Yola, Bauchi, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Calabar and Yenagoa.