Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday said that the Federal Government launched an Online Visa Approval Centre as part of its efforts to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks and reduce corruption in the nation’s visa application process.
The Centre, which was commissioned by the President Bola Tinubu in December 2024, ensures that applicants no longer need to visit a visa office, know anyone in the system, or lobby for approvals.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) 2025, yesterday in Abuja, the minister explained that the government considered visa issuance to travellers to the country a very important document because it is an instrument of migration management and an instrument of economic development.
According to him, to ensure a win-win situation in the visa issuance, Nigeria has to strike a delicate balance between national security and the ease of migration, adding that government feels that it’s something that it can do and something it will do.
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Tunji-Ojo clarified: “We don’t have a physical Visa Approval Center. If you apply for a Nigerian visa anywhere in the world, you do so online. We process it here in Nigeria, and if approved, you receive your e-visa in your email.”
He pointed out that to enhance efficiency of the process, the government had set a 48-hour deadline for processing e-visas.
The minister clarified: “It is unprofessional and unacceptable for the Nigeria Immigration Service not to approve or provide feedback within 48 hours. It breaks my heart that people need to lobby to even get visas to Nigeria. It shouldn’t be so. It shouldn’t be.
“For anybody that is qualified, for anybody that wants to do legitimate activities in Nigeria, such people should be able to come to Nigeria easily. And this is why we are opening our space. Mr. President is interested in foreign direct investments”, he added.
While harping on Nigeria’s interest in partnering with the rest of the world to develop its economy, Tunji-Ojo maintained that the government cannot do “that when we allow bottlenecks to hold us down. So these reforms, basically, are aimed at opening our space, enhancing national security, and we hope that the primary responsibilities of the visa scheme will be achieved.”
In her address at the forum, Controller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mrs. Kemi Nandap, said the NIS would fully digitize its e-visa platform and reduce visa classifications from 79 to 44 to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency in the new visa policy.
She assured: “At the core of this policy is the new e-visa platform—a fully digitized, centralized system that revolutionizes how foreign nationals interact with our country’s entry procedures. As part of this transformation, the Nigerian Visa Policy 2024 underwent a comprehensive review, resulting in a significant reduction in visa classifications from 79 to 44.
“These categories have been logically grouped to simplify procedures, reduce complexities, and greatly improve the user experience. Importantly, we have maintained the original purpose and intent of each visa class throughout this reform”, the Controller-General added.
