The Federal Government has announced that all visa applications in Nigeria will transition to an online platform before March 1, 2025. Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, revealed this during an interactive session on ‘X Spaces’ hosted by social media influencer Dr. Segun Awosanya on Monday.
According to the minister, the move is part of a comprehensive reform to streamline the visa process, enhance national security, and eliminate corruption. He highlighted the establishment of a centralised visa approval centre designed to standardise the process and ensure proper oversight.
“The visa approval centre is an achievement for this administration,” Dr. Tunji-Ojo said. “It will stem corruption, ensure national security, and merge the visa regime to ensure uniformity. Before March 1, all visa application systems will be online to ensure proper vetting.”
Dr. Tunji-Ojo also spoke about the government’s strides in data management, referencing the completion of a harmonised data centre housed at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex (BATTIC) in Sauka, Abuja.
“We inherited a Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) that had no data centre, with citizens’ data being stored by private contractors in violation of the Data Protection Act,” he said. “To address this, we delivered an 8.3-petabyte data centre—one of the largest in the world.”
The minister underscored the significance of this achievement, describing the data centre as a critical infrastructure to safeguard national security and ensure compliance with international standards for document issuance and data protection.
The online visa application system is expected to make the process faster and more transparent for applicants, while the centralised data infrastructure will ensure the secure handling of sensitive information. This initiative aligns with the government’s broader efforts to modernise its immigration system, improve service delivery, and bolster public confidence in its institutions.