By Omotilewa Quadri
The Federal Government has approved a 10-year validity period for Nigerian passports.
This followed a presidential approval to change the face of the e-passport 10 years after it was introduced in the country.
The Comptroller-General of Nigerian Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, who said this in a report monitored on Channels TV on Thursday, added that the extended validity period would reduce the stress Nigerians went through every five years to renew their passports.
“One of the reforms he (President Buhari) has approved is that we would improve the quality, security of our passport booklets.
“Ten years after the enrolment of the e-passport system, we need to improve the security features. You can’t keep documents for 10 years without seeing decreased values in them, so we are improving the security features which would raise the standards of the passports,” the CG explained.
He added that the President also approved improved security features for the documents.
Babandede, however, disclosed that the new passports would cost more, but he did not reveal the new prices for the various categories of the passports.
He said, “President Buhari has equally approved 10-year validity for passports which is great news. When the report comes, passports will be valid for 10 years which is great news especially for adults from the age of 18 and above.”
“Though people will pay more, if they can pay more and get the booklets quickly, it’s good with improved security for 10 years validity. They would pay more but the document would be available, that’s good,” Babandede said.
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