ePassport and PKD Participation:

Experience of Nigeria
Cleophas Irmiya Nep
Comptroller (Diplomatic/Official Passports)
Nigeria Immigration Service

Regional Seminar on MRTDs, Biometrics and
Identification Management 12 to 14 November,
2013, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Population: Approximately 170m people
Total area: 923,768 sq kilometres
Total Land Borders: 4,047 kilometers
Coast line: 853 Kilometers

Nigeria Fact Sheet
Issuing of MRPs commenced in 1998
38 centres within the Country
10 Missions abroad also authorised to issue

Nigerias MRP
:
Non-connectivity of issuing centres to a central
Data Base thus allowing multiple possession.
Manual host transfer of data
Limited data storage capacity
Data page substitution
Fraudulent breeder documents
Acquisition by proxy
Budgetary constraints leading to low stock


Introduction of the e-Passport
Consequent upon the problems just enumerated, the
integrity and subsequent acceptability of our Travel
Documents were at an all time low.
The Federal Government approved the introduction of the e-
passport in order to restore the credibility of the travel
document.
Deployment of V-sats and internet
connectivity to all issuing centres
Establishment of Central Data Base with
adequate storage capacity
Deployment of Personalization Systems
Public Sensitization
Personnel Training

Funding
The cost implication of the project was enormous when
compared to our budgetary allocations
The Private Sector was contacted and a Public /Private
partnership agreement was signed
In this agreement, the Public Sector provides all the funds
required for the project including Personnel Training, supply
of consumables, maintenance/replacement of
damaged/worn out equipment, etc
Through this carefully worked out agreement, the continuity
of the project is guaranteed and Govt gets revenue without
spending money on the project


Issuing of e-Passports commenced as a
pilot project in 2007 with Abuja and
Lagos as centres
By the end of the same year, e-
Passports were being issued in all the
States of the Federation. At present
there are 40 centres nation wide.
Phased roll out of the passport in our
Missions abroad commenced in 2008.
About 30 missions now issue the doc.

Achievements
Elimination of multiple acquisition
Sanitation of the passport administration
Reduction of forgeries
Introduction of additional biometric feature (finger print)
Availability of mobile passport readers
Passenger registration system at entry points
PKD and ease of confirmation of genuineness
Restoration of the integrity of the document and its
acceptance internationally
CHALLENGES
Cultural and traditional practices
Breeder documents
Lost passports and cancellation
PROSPECTS
Authentication at control posts
Plans for the introduction of ABCs and mobile passport readers
at airports and land borders
Interpol i24/7
Breeder documents
Introduction of the new National ID Card
Interface of all data bases

THANK YOU