Minister of Interior, Lt.Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau

The Minister of Interior, Lt.Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, says Nigeria will soon begin local production of e-passports to conserve foreign exchange.

Dambazau, who said this at an event to mark his three years in office, said producing the passport in the country would also help in job creation and build Nigeria’s capacity in passport production.

“Currently, our passports are being produced outside the country; not too long, we will start the production of passports which is under the Private-Public Partnership (PPP). Within the period under review, the ministry was able to review agreement under PPP, to ensure that the quality of services are improved and the government’s share of revenue is increased.”

He said part of the roles the ministry played was ensuring the issuance of Visa-on-Arrival at various international airports which was done to attract and ease movement of genuine investors.

The minister added that through the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the ministry launched the Harmonised Arrival/Departure Cards which ended the era where international travelers were required to fill multiple cards issued by various agencies at the ports.

“The introduction of the cards has created a platform for enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria as specific migration entry and departure encumbrances, as well as cumbersome clearing processes, have been reduced.”(NAN)